Amaranth
by Sora G. Silverwind
Summary: More than four centuries after the Rise, the land of Weyard is thriving, but its peoples are on the verge of chaos. Guided by the words of the Wise One, a young woman from Neo Valeriam must prevent a tragedy that could throw two kingdoms into war.
1. Good Morning, Melisande

**Amaranth**  
**by Sora G. Silverwind**

**Summary****: More than four centuries after the Rise, the land of Weyard is thriving, but its peoples are on the verge of chaos. Guided by the words of the Wise One, a young woman from Neo Valeriam must prevent a tragedy that could throw two kingdoms into war.**

**Rating****: PG-13/T for violence and language, particularly from Ramesh and Minayo. Tsk, tsk.**

**Author's notes****: I can has conteest entree yey? For GSR's fanfic contest, in which contenders were to write a fic set sometime in Weyard with a primary cast of either original characters or super-minor NPCs. This was supposed to be just a long-ass one-shot, but in order to get something into the contest on time, I broke it up into chapters. XD I have no sense of scale.**

**Premise of this fic taken from the fifth chapter of my GS fic **_**What Remains of the Day**_**, although I've changed a fair number of details from the original. **

**Disclaimer****: You bet your space pirate booty that Meli and company (excepting the Wise One) belong to me. The world of Weyard is Camelot's creation, though I've managed to mangle that a little here too.**

**Also, the title has nothing to do with the fic whatsoever. I was too lame to think of anything better, so I swiped it from the awesome Nightwish song of the same name.**

**Special thanks to****: Cookies, Odessa Chen, Within Temptation, and – as always – Mountain Dew. Also, the Golden Sun soundtrack, how I love thee.**

O-O-O

"_**The gods have not revealed all things to people from the beginning, but by seeking they find in time what is better." **_

**- Xenophanes, Frag. 18**

O-O-O

It's only the fact that she tends to be fully awake by the end of nightmorn that keeps Meli from shrieking her lungs out at the sight that meets her when she throws open the shutters to let fresh air into her small, humble room at the boarding house of Kradinos Academy for Alchemical Achievement.

Suspended in the air outside of her sixth-story window, translucently lit by a mystical aura, is a large serpent armored in scales of the deepest blue. It – she isn't sure of the gender – inclines its head to fix her with a three-eyed stare of fire, gold, and water tones, brighter than jewels.

Meli merely stares open-mouthed at the otherworldly creature. Though the air is already saturated with the trademark humidity of Soltime, she shivers in her cotton nightgown and hugs herself. Even for her, it's far too early in the day to deal with this sort of surprise. After all, she hasn't even gone through her daily devotions! Surely the gods could spare a little mercy on a humble devotee and allow her to pay proper homage to them before dumping a cart of divine mischief on her!

_Do you know who I am, Lady Melisande de l'Umbrano?_

The serpent hasn't twitched a muscle, but Meli hears the voice clear in her head: a smooth, androgynous tone that conjures the image of a palm gently skimming the surface of still water. It does nothing to settle her worst fears about the current situation. "I don't," she answers as respectfully as she can manage, bowing her head and folding her hands in deference.

_Might you have an idea about the answer?_

A deceptively open-ended question. She'd read many a tale of mortals who had answered wrongly to a question posed by a deity or spirit and had earned themselves quite the punishment for it. Meli has no particular fear of snakes, but she also has no illusions about the Psynergetic power emanating from the beast in front of her. Well, she thinks, may the gods at least say that her answers were honest and forthright, and that she had been faithful in her observance of services and meditations. "You're a snake," she says. "Are you Coatlicue, or someone associated with her?"

_Some legends say that I am._

"Are those legends true?"

_The mightiest legends and myths spring from a single grain of truth._

Meli swallows. Does the serpent expect her to answer her own question? She thinks over the possible consequences, rifling through her mental library of various mythologies for help. If she answers affirmatively, it might demonstrate the depth of her faith in the divine and possibly earn her favor with this being. On the other hand, it could be a double-edged question. There are any number of legends about any given thing in Weyard, and she doesn't exactly know what other legends this being might correspond with. By associating him wrongly, she might offend him...and there lay the way to the end.

The serpent, however, seems to sense her anxiety and takes mercy on her._You may have heard of me as the Wise One._

"What?" Meli is taken completely by surprise, and her head pops up. "But...but I've read the stories, heard things from Grandmother! When you appeared to Isaac and Garet, you were a floating rock with one eye!" She claps a hand over her mouth in sudden horror. "N-not to accuse you of lying, it's j-just that..."

_There is no need to apologize. _The Wise One "smiles" in Meli's mind; it manifests as a vaguely sensual ripple of warmth in Meli's body. _Perception of the whole in the mortal realm is limited. Believe me or not when I say that I have had many names and many forms over Time. This is not the form I would have asked for, had I even a choice in the matter. But it is the last vestige of my ego, a reminder to myself and to others about the prices I paid for this role as a result of my choices._

Meli is completely lost. She shakes her head slowly, causing dark purple strands of hair to slip out from behind her large ears. "I'm sorry...I don't quite understand you."

_Ah, well.__It is not something you need to understand. _The Wise One coils himself, bringing his head down to her eye-level while also maintaining a comfortable distance from the window. Nevertheless, Meli flinches back a little. _Perhaps if we fix this world, you – or anybody else – will never have a need to._

"Fix this world...?"

_There was a reason my predecessor had alchemy sealed and tried to keep it as such. Alchemy is a great power that can, and has been, misused._

A sour taste stings the back of Meli's tongue as she recalls a frustrating memory. "I've seen some of the students in the lower academy practice their arts on those from the Mud Quarters."

_Yet alchemy is the lifeblood of the land, _he continues. _Understand that if alchemy had not been released, Weyard would have crumbled to the point that the Apojii Islands would not have existed long enough to export those slippers of yours to Valerian shops._

Meli's eyes, dark like red wine, glance briefly down at her dainty feet, outfitted in the aforementioned sandals – a gift from a hopeful suitor. "But according to the master cartographers, Weyard has grown since then. The land itself, that is."

_If only the same could be said about mortal minds. It is glossed in a veneer of prosperity and the growth of states, but Weyard stands poised to enter a worldwide war that would wipe out countless lives within half a century._

A childhood nightmare rears its head in Meli's heart. She banishes it with the surety of a maid sweeping away a rat. "With all accorded respect, Wise One, is the situation truly that bad? Not just in Neo Valeriam, but elsewhere? There's so much I don't know about what lies outside the city, and the academy can only teach so much..."

_Weyard has been without the full reserve of alchemy for so long that its inhabitants have forgotten that nearly anyone can become Adepts if they work at it. There are those in Xian, Prox, Lemuria, and other places who have managed to independently re-discover some of the most dangerous of the alchemical arts, and would use them without proper instructions or full knowledge of the cost. _The Wise One lifts himself up enough to glance southwest of the boarding house. _Certain...rules prevent me from divulging all that I know, but I have reason to believe that a young man you know from the Mud Quarters may use a particularly potent Jupiter spell to assassinate your Princess Thea._

Meli blinks unbelievingly. "_Ramesh?_ I knew he had been able to acquire translations of ancient Anemosian texts and was reading through them, but..." She starts nervously twirling a lock of her long hair around her finger as she works through the uncomfortable implications. "If he kills the princess using something from those books, King Hadrian will almost certainly pin the blame on a native Contigan, and the tensions between Neo Valeriam and Contigo will positively explode." Her finger stops in mid-twirl; strands of hair snag on the jagged edges of a well-bitten fingernail. "How powerful are those arts, truly? Could they get him past the defenses of the castle, bypass both the Psynergetic shields and the alchemistrial devices? Princess Thea is well-guarded at all times as well, and rumored to be a formidable Adept in her own right."

_He is not so reckless as to try and infiltrate Solzea Castle. He has been biding his time, studying the princess' daily schedule; he will make his move when she is most vulnerable._

"But surely that's suicide!"

_Ramesh is frustrated with the lack of any visible progress on affecting positive change in the Mud Quarters through legitimate means. His personal studies have fired his mind to rashness and violent dreams of revolution._

Meli thinks of Ramesh Flernir, her half-guide and half-friend in the Mud Quarters. True, he's stolen often enough, and delivered swift justice to those who would dare lay a finger on his loved ones, and his mind and mouth are fouler than three ditches of effluvia. But a murderer-turned-revolutionary-martyr? Meli doesn't (want to) think he could be so desperate and angry to do such a thing. And the princess is hardly a deserving victim, either. If Meli _had_ to choose a corpse, it would be the king's. But King Hadrian is too difficult a target for normal folk; he sequesters himself in Solzea day in and day out. Princess Thea freely walks the city, and while she has a distinct tendency to ignore the existence of the Mud Quarters, she is otherwise is far more committed to the wellness of the Valerians than her father, and as such is favored by them. Dressing in simpler clothes than her station would suggest, she is a fairly common sight conversing with people in Deo Auris, a district not far from Kradinos Academy. There have been a number of official edicts that have generally improved Neo Valeriam's living conditions which owe their existence to the princess' articulate pleas. Her seeming death at enemy hands would doubtlessly incite the passions of the Valerians.

_You need to speak with Ramesh soon,_ the Wise One says. _Stop him however you must. Convince him to give up his plans._

She frowns. "Ramesh likes me, but not _that_ much," she insists. "He has a deep-seated distrust of the highborn. He likes to jest that I am her Highness' secret spy, but I don't believe he means it entirely in jest."

_Perhaps that is to your advantage. If you play that role when you next speak to him, and tell him what you know..._

"With all accorded respect, I'll be lucky if he doesn't kill me before I finish my first sentence. My defensive Psynergy is well and good, but I've seen what Ramesh can do with standard spells. I don't have much faith in my ability to defend against him."

_A different approach, then – tell him that you have caught wind of what he means to do, and insist that you wish to help him with his plans. Once he lays out the details, you can hinder him._

"I can't do that!" Meli gasps. "That would be lying!" She lowers her voice. "Besides, if I were to do that – and I won't! – I wouldn't be able to bluff my way through it."

Thankfully, the Wise One doesn't seem disappointed or frustrated with her, only thoughtful...and perhaps a little amused, oddly enough. _Preventing Princess Thea's death is of utmost importance,_ he says. _Might there be someone else you know who may be able to confront Ramesh directly?_

"Minayo is in the personal employ of the princess as her bodyguard and spy," Meli says after a pause. "I don't know her or the princess personally, but I think I know of a way to warn the both of them. Minayo would be able to deal with Ramesh much better than I, and such a task is what she is there for anyway."

_So be it. Work quickly, ensure that the princess lives, and we shall go from there._

A question suddenly strikes Meli, one that – if she asks – may earn her a dose of divine smiting. Nevertheless, she drops to her knees and asks it. "Forgive me my doubts, Wise One," she begins. "But how do I know that I can trust you? That you're truly the Wise One of legend, or at the very least someone who has an honest foresight?"

_Did you not pray half a season ago for wisdom to descend upon you, in order that you may prevent more tragedies like the deaths in Garetius Square?_

Meli's eyes go wide. "Y-you...heard me...?" she stutters.

_We hear quite a lot in the divine realm, but it is rare that anyone or anything outside of mortal existence directly intervenes in mortal affairs of their own choosing. The last time it happened was right before all the lighthouses were re-lit. In other circumstances, I would let your princess die, but when you are outside of Time, you see the ripples more clearly. It is very possible that the war resulting from a clash between Neo Valeriam, Contigo, and their allies could literally annihilate Weyard in the process. Alchemical knowledge, practice, and technology have progressed to the point that all of civilization on Weyard – as well as the land itself – could be wiped out if people do not start taking responsibility._

Meli makes herself meet the gaze of the Wise One, trying to ascertain his intentions. She normally prides herself on gauging such a thing within a certain degree of accuracy, but the third eye in the middle of the serpent's forehead, crimson like blood and slightly larger than the other two eyes, is unnerving. She decides to put her trust in him; her parents didn't raise her to be an ingrate, _especially_ not to the gods and spirits. "Do you know when Ramesh is planning to act?"

_...within this week. Not today or the day after, however, for he is still working out the details of his plans._

She inhales sharply, wondering why the Wise One can't simply tell her the specific details for a preventing a tragedy that may herald Weyard's last days. As it stands now, she has to fumble in the dark with only the barest of flickering flames to illuminate the way with the Final Hourglass hanging above her head, sand rushing to its doom at thrice the normal speed. Still, Meli functions well enough under pressure. Even in her confusion she has sketched out the beginnings of a plan in her mind, resolving to do what she can at the moment. She has a job; she will do it. "If that is so, then I will get word to the princess about this as quick as possible so that she can act accordingly," she declares.

_Do not rest after you have communicated with the princess and her guard. You, too, shall have an important role in this. That is why I am speaking to you now._

Ironically, there is a feeling of unease that accompanies the pride warming Meli's heart at the honor of being noticed by the divine. "With all accorded respect, I can't possibly see how, but...thank you for your blessings, and your aid."

The Wise One bows his head and closes his eyes. _I do not deserve thanks for serving out my punishment,_ he says before he fades into shimmery dust.

In a daze, Meli ambles back to her bed and sits down, soaking in the full light of morning. A soft wind blows in, ruffling her hair and bringing with it the cacophany of life stirring below: the clack of horse hoofs on cobblestone as they pull merchant wagons of supplies to Solzea and to Valerian shops; the gossip passed between venders in the market, unintelligible from this distance but sure to be heard clearly enough by midday from other Kradinos students; the melody of the songbirds outside the window that Meli keeps on forgetting to look up in the library; the chatter of her housemates in the hallway. All is as it should be...

...which is why Meli is more than a little confused. Unless something had gotten lost in the dusts of history, this is the first appearance of that legendary sage to appear in at least four centuries! Shouldn't there have been more...well...evidence of his presence? After all, when he had last appeared, everyone had dropped to their knees at the sight of him. Grandmother had spoken of a golden veil that had enveloped the village of Vale, bringing new life into everyone and everything. The Wise One, she had said, spoke with a voice that shook the trees and yet was, in the Valeans' minds, quiet as a whisper. Admittedly, she had also been speaking from thirdhand experience. And from personal study of various myths and history in general, Meli knows that details frequently get lost, mangled, or made up even in firsthand accounts of happenings.

_And those aren't really important details in situations like these,_ she insists to herself, bringing her knees underneath her and settling her palms in a relaxed pose on her thighs. She begins to breathe softly and deliberately, as taught for meditation. _Remember what happened when Hatui ignored Nereid's pleas for help simply because she had used a butterfly to reach him. Experiences with the divine transcend rationality. _The thought briefly occurs to her that she may have been hallucinating the entire experience. It's not entirely the voice of paranoia speaking: when she had nightmares as a child, she'd often wake up and still see the twisted specters of her visions right in front of her, as though they had been there all along and not just in her mindscape. The problem with this postulate in the current situation is that Meli didn't have a dream the night before.

But Meli had known from the moment that she had first seen the Wise One that she'd been graced with a powerful, divine presence, bearing words that _must_ be heeded if the world were to be saved from its sure path to destruction. This is not just her truth, as is the case with most things relating to spiritual experiences: this is _the_ truth.

She just wonders if anyone else will think so.


	2. A Proposal

Cleaned up and (mostly) ready to face the day, Meli makes her way out of the boarding house and to the dining hall across the grassy quad to break her fast. Her waist-length hair has been pulled back into a braid woven with white ribbons, her personal way of showing her dedication to the healing arts. She wears a mauve vest of suede over a short-sleeved pale pink shirt, and a long maroon skirt that just covers brown boots from Loho. Her necessary materials for her single class today are stored safely in a woven shoulder bag handmade by artisans in Daila.

It's Watersday today, so the dining hall isn't as full and noisy as it could be – there just aren't that many classes scheduled on early morning Watersdays that would encourage lazy students to get out of bed to eat properly. Meli finds herself disconcerted upon entering the hall: she'd been hoping that the presence of other lives would distract her from her own, at least enough to get over the shivers caused by this morning's news so that she could think a little more clearly. Nevertheless, she picks up a bowl of mixed fruits and a glass of water, and goes to sit down in a relatively empty corner to eat. She's interrupted halfway through her meal.

"Is something the matter, Meli?" asks a young man standing right behind her. He has angular cheekbones and dirty blond hair cut straight along his jawline. In contrast to Meli's understated outfit, he wears something more worthy of someone from noble lineage: a black vest with silver embroidery over a shirt and pants of midnight blue in a formal cut, with fine leather boots. There's also a silver chain around his neck that sports a teardrop-shaped ruby. "You look rather...dark, for lack of a better term."

Normally, Meli would be as civil as minimally required upon seeing Gregor Alerio, him being the persistent suitor that he is. Today, however, she finds the encounter a bit of a blessing; she'd meant to seek him out later in the day anyway. "Good morning to you," she responds, setting her fork gently on the edge of her fruit bowl. "I am, in fact, feeling a bit 'dark', if you wish to put it that way." She smiles in a manner that she hopes won't be construed as flirty or anything along those lines. "And perhaps you can help me."

Gregor takes the seat across from her and returns the smile. There's genuine concern in the expression, but also too much obsequiousness in it for Meli's liking. "What do you need?" he asks.

Meli quickly glances around, then lowers her voice. "You're a close relation to the princess, aren't you?"

"A cousin."

"Do you talk with her often?"

"Very. She visits every couple of days. She's very good company."

"How often does the Izuman accompany her?"

"Minayo? You'd think that they were sisters at the hip from the way she hangs around Thea." He snorts. "Though I've heard that Izuman girls are even more loyal than trained dogs, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. I merely wonder _why_ Minayo is so attached to Thea."

"Is there any way you can arrange for me to meet with both of them either later today or at some point tomorrow?"

Gregor gives Meli a quizzical look, thin eyebrows both raised. "What's this all about?" He suddenly grins. "Researching the sort of family you might be marrying into?"

Meli glares at him. "Nothing like that!" she insists, wishing not for the first time that she were the type of person to lash out at someone else for such a presumptuous comment. Not everyone can be like Jenna of the Catalysts, she supposes. "There's something I would like to discuss with her Highness, that's all."

"You can't tell me?"

"Can you arrange the meeting or not?

A cocktail of emotions flit across Gregor's face: annoyance, resignation, curiosity, and then something that wasn't quite sly but something not entirely innocent either. "What do I get out of this?"

"Anything but my hand in marriage or my maidenhead in the bedroom," she responds, her words clicking as sharply as heels on marble. "Be reasonable."

Gregor laughs and shrugs. "Of course, of course." He takes a moment to think. "Very well. I would like to take you to the Ildelia Gardens at some point within the month, before the sunroses wilt."

The Ildelia Gardens are the only part of Solzea Castle that is open to the public on non-festival days. They are a popular attraction for native Valerians and visitors alike, boasting some of the best displays of mundane gardencraft fused with the magick of Venus Psynergy. It's also a favored spots for lovers to make their promises of everlasting devotion, particularly while lost in the labyrinth of sunrose hedges.

Meli gives a measured sigh. "On the condition that you don't try to convince me or coerce me into any sort of contract with you."

He leans back in his seat, the beginnings of a sulk hanging over his head. "Really, must you be so...frigid?"

"I've made it clear that I'm not interested in marrying you, and you've made it clear that you're not interested in being anything less than my husband," Meli says. She doesn't like the turn this is taking; it's a turn that previous conversations have taken before with Gregor and one that serves to ruin her mood for a good couple of hours at least. "We have no common ground at this point. I'm merely being practical about this situation between us."

"What is it that you don't like about me? I'm willing to change if you need me to..."

"Oh, it's not that I don't want to marry _you_ specifically. I simply don't wish to marry at all."

"But you're getting old," Gregor points out. "Twenty-two years of age and no indication of where you'll settle down? It won't be long before you're a winter hen, and no one will want to marry you by that time."

"My parents find no fault with a solitary arrangement for me, which I suppose is the blessing of having multiple siblings to carry on the family heritage. Even so, I won't require much to live on. After finishing my studies here, I can take up residence at the healers' guildhouse, and they would provide me with my daily needs."

Gregor makes a face; he clearly doesn't believe her. "Well, answer me this, then: does taking the oath with the healers' guild have any requirements about celibacy or anything of the sort?"

"No, but..."

"Then you should find a husband. People won't respect you if you don't."

Meli is exasperated beyond belief now. She doesn't have it in her to strike him...but things around her have had a tendency to catch fire whenever she's upset. "And by 'people', do you mean yourself, Gregor?" she snaps, her normally quiet voice even quieter now with restrained anger. "If you can only respect me by virtue of who I'm attached to and not by my deeds or my person, you're not even worth conversing with, never mind _marrying._" She grabs her bag, gets up, and storms away, leaving the remainder of her breakfast with a bewildered Gregor.

She's almost completely crossed the quad before she realizes what a stupid thing she's done. _Idiot! There's no way he's going to talk to Princess Thea after __**that**_Panic stops her in her tracks. She wonders if she should return to attempt reconciliation with Gregor – she _needs _to be able to talk to the princess. But she's still fuming; she might only make the situation worse. Gregor, too, would not be in a state fit for discussion. Perhaps she could pen an apologetic letter and reassure him that she would still go to Ildelia if he so desired, as long as he did that single favor of her – the only favor she's asked of him in the three years she's known him.

That will have to come later, though. She has a class to attend...and another person to talk to.


	3. Hope on Fire

After her two-and-a-half hour lesson in preparing herbal tinctures for various purposes, Meli returns to the dining hall for lunch, half-hoping and half-dreading that she'll run into Gregor again. But there's no sign of him, so she eats her modest lunch (tomato soup and a small loaf of bread) in solitude.

With her hunger satisfied, she then makes her way to the northeast side of the quad, where a three-story brick building in an older style with guardian gargoyles at its top corners awaits her. She ascends the steps to the entrance, hoping the person she's looking for is available.

On the second floor of the building, Meli gently raps on the doorframe of an open entrance to a tiny, cramped office filled with sunlight and books of all sizes and ages. "Professor? Are you busy?"

Florian Reyes isn't...or so he says while his attention seems to be wholly focused on something he's writing, scarlet eyes peering at his scribbles over a pair of half-moon glasses. "What do you need, Melisande?" he asks kindly, dipping his quill pen into an inkwell.

"May I shut the door?"

This gets Florian's attention. He carefully sets the quill aside. "I'm assuming you're not here to talk about your studies, then."

Meli shakes her head as she pulls the door shut behind her. Florian is her advisor for her research into a revived field of the healing arts based on the concept of the _Mzaraph Legra,_ or Purifying Fire, recently found in an ancient El-Haferan manuscript of the same name. At twenty-nine years on the edge of thirty, Florian is young as far as professors at Kradinos go, and his wavy gold-streaked orange hair with a face of gentle features obscures his true age even further. But he is still a respected figure in the field of ancient lore...as well as Meli's most trusted confidante.

"I saw the Wise One this morning," she says.

Florian blinks. "Do tell," he says without any trace of sarcasm.

Meli takes a seat in the well-worn chair in front of Florian's desk and describes her experience with the Wise One, including what he had said regarding Princess Thea's possible assassination by Ramesh and the future of Weyard if that were allowed to happen. Through it all, Florian regards her with an intensely thoughtful look. "You truly believe that this is the Wise One of legends?" he asks when she's finished.

"I realize how outlandish this all sounds," Meli says, clasping her hands in her lap. "But at the very least, I believe he is worth regarding."

"Have you acted upon this information yet?"

"I asked Gregor Alerio to arrange a meeting with the princess, but...it didn't end as well as I would have liked."

Florian smiles knowingly. "He offered to do the favor upon the condition that you would marry him."

"We hadn't even formally agreed to anything before he turned the conversation into another lecture session about me finding a husband before I withered away and such!" Meli grumbles in a rather unladylike way. "Such a subject never fails to irritate me."

He laughs. "Well, I do think it would be good for you to find at least a life companion at some point."

Meli frowns at him. "Don't tell me you're going to bother me about this, too?"

"Oh, no, you know I believe that your choices should always be your own, with as much outside input as you're willing to allow." Florian reaches for a large, gently used book from a side shelf and props it open against the edge of his desk. He takes off his glasses and sets them on a stack of books on the floor that's level with the top of the desk before rifling through the pages of the book in his lap. "It's just that the healing profession is hardly the gentlest on those who enter into it, Iris bless them. It would be good for you to have the extra emotional support."

Meli shakes her head. "My path and my meditations will be all I'll need."

"There's no one anywhere in Neo Valeriam that you might have even the slightest inclination of wanting to marry?"

There is, actually. He's sitting in front of her right now, running a finger down a page of _Second Edition of Myths and Mythical Patterns Around Weyard_ by Vespar T. Kasyha, engrossed in perusing the text and fully oblivious to the fact that she's admiring how he looks without his glasses, particularly with that contemplative expression of his. "No one at all," Meli declares in a voice louder than she'd intended. "What are you looking for, if I may ask?"

"I wanted to briefly check if there were any other stories that feature a snake as a divine being of importance." Florian flips a page, checking the other side, then flips back to his original page. "This book traces patterns in the different myths that float around Weyard, trying to make sense of any commonalities. It then cross-references those patterns with claims from individuals who have supposedly communed with these beings. But the only entry I can find regarding wisdom and a snake is about Coatlicue Serpentessia and her mortal lover Tlatzin."

Meli glances up at the ceiling in a moment of thought, leaning back in her seat and re-twining her fingers with each other. "The myth does say that Wisdom was born from the mingling of Tlatzin's blood and Coatlicue's tears, but translators are undecided about the metaphorical intent of the specific reference. And the rest of the Anemosian myths don't mention Wisdom as any sort of individual persona, although it's a secondary attribute of Pochetl." She glances at Florian. "Are you trying to find a precedence for this particular Wise One?"

"Yes, though I'm already suspecting that I'm stoning the wrong crow here." With a sigh, Florian closes the book and sets it aside. "You appear to have had a rather lucid, relatively rational experience with a divine power, the Wise One or someone else. Are you confident about that?" At Meli's nod, he continues: "Then the question is not who this being is, but instead how you can use the information he has imparted to you in a way that will minimize the consequences should this information be faulty in some manner. Treasonous as it may sound, I think the best way to go about this is to keep everything as quiet as possible. Otherwise you'll have half of Neo Valeriam looking at you rather oddly. Did the Wise One say anything about keeping this a secret, by the way?"

"I don't believe so. He just wanted me to make sure that the princess wouldn't be killed."

"Does Gregor know?"

"No. If I ever speak to her Highness, though, he may find out from her."

"Considering that your little negotiation sessions went a little awry, talking to the princess may be delayed for longer than you can afford. You'll have to settle for figuring out where Ramesh currently stands and assess the situation from there. You'll see him on Scythesday afternoon, won't you?"

"Tomorrow? Yes." Meli frowns. "And I thought the name 'Scythesday' went out of use fifty years after the Rise. Can't you call it 'Sun's Eve' like everyone else? It really is a very morbid name."

"I'm afraid I can't. I must keep up the pretense of being as traditionally fatalistic – or is that fatalistically traditional? – as the rest of the old folk around the academy in order to be able to sit here in this office and say such things to you."

Meli barely manages a quasi-stern glare before she giggles softly. "Even Professor Skythorne calls it 'Sun's Eve', and he has to be in his nineties by now! You can't possibly hope to convince me that you're older than him."

"You assume that I hope for anything more than a way to eat three decent meals a day," Florian responds with a smile that stops Meli's heart for half a second. "Speaking of which, I do need to get some lunch; I've been working since before midmorn. Will you join me? We'll visit the usual."

"I've already eaten," Meli says regretfully. She starts to say that she would be glad to join him anyway, then bites down hard on her tongue. Not only would it be improper to offer herself in such a way, but it would be even more so considering the task the Wise One has just passed down to her! To be so frivolously selfish at a time like this is unforgivable. And besides, perhaps she'd bothered the professor enough...

"Have you? That's a shame. I was hoping you could keep me company regardless – there were some things I found about the myth of Ba'aela that I thought you might be interested in discussing."

Every muscle in Meli's body freezes. She thanks Iris that she'd been staring at the corner of Florian's desk at that moment instead of Florian himself. Eternity passes but it's only three seconds before Meli gets up from her chair. "I thought you said you didn't hope for anything more than a way to eat three decent meals a day," she says, turning to leave.

Florian chuckles. "You don't think that your presence would constitute my having a 'decent meal'?"

"I think I'd best be leaving anyway," she says as casually as possible, ignoring the sudden tightness in her throat. "I might be able to visit Ramesh today, you know. I've visited the Mud Quarters enough times on my off-hours that my presence wouldn't be anything to be suspicious of, and there's still enough daylight for me to change my clothes and then travel to there and back in relative safety. So good day to you, Professor." And Meli walks out the door.

O-O-O

To Meli's surprise, there's a folded note at her feet when she opens the door to her room at the boarding house.

_Dearest Melisande,_

_I beg you to forgive the dreadful way I acted with you earlier today. I stepped completely beyond my boundaries when I should have known better. I apologize to you from the bottom of my heart, since upsetting you is __never__ my intention whenever I speak with you. (However, you must understand how frustrating this situation is for me, knowing that the one I love may be fated to an unhappy, lonely life, and all I can do is simply stand by. Nevertheless, I shall keep my tongue tied from now on, and watch over you as best I can.)_

_I hope that you are still willing to let me take you to Ildelia. Thea, unfortunately, is not available tonight, but you will want to visit my manor at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. She and Minayo will be there._

_I remain sincerely yours,_

_Gregor_

The melodramatic tone in the first part of the letter evokes an irritation in her that talking with Florian had chased away, but Meli is also immeasurably relieved that Gregor pulled through for her. She makes a mental note to act more cordially towards him from now on, though she knows full well that he'll interpret the change as an interest in him and react accordingly. Still, it's a small price to pay for working towards the salvation of Weyard.

Her relief quickly drops to worry when she realizes that the meeting time with the princess conflicts exactly with the time she has to report for work in the Mud Quarters tomorrow. _That means I'll __**have**__ to visit Ramesh today, if I want the best chance of stopping him before he goes through with the assassination. Ramesh's inaction is only assured for today and tomorrow, according to the Wise One. After that... _Meli sighs and tosses the letter onto her writing table. She then goes through her clothes chest to retrieve a faded purple shirt and skirt that are even more modestly styled than her current outfit. It won't do to be fancy in a place like a Mud Quarters; it's ostentatious and rude, not to mention impractical. _After that, I can only hope that wisdom will come to me again._


	4. In the Dark

Apunia Dator, more commonly known as the Mud Quarters, is alive with life as usual when the street carriage drops Meli off on Gane Street, the eastern border of the district. It's one of the better places to live in the district: it has wooden slats here and there on the dirt streets to keep wheels from getting stuck in the dirt, and the aura of human toil and misery isn't quite as overwhelming. There aren't quite as many starving and abandoned children roving about, either. Or blood stains on the outside of buildings.

Meli heads down Gane and then turns onto a back alley cast in the shadow of the afternoon sun, taking a common shortcut. She knows this place like everyone knows the story of the Rise, so she walks with purpose and confidence. To be on the safe side, though, she's still raised a slight Psynergetic aura around herself, enough to indicate that a fiery fate awaits those who dare harass her. She hasn't had to defend herself since the first few weeks of her time working here; she hopes she'll never have to in the future.

Her first destination is "Jevara's Kures nd Remedees", a healing house that caters to those who cannot afford the sanctioned healers of Neo Valeriam...or those who have "special needs" that must be tended to in anonymity. This is where Meli has been working for the past three years, applying her healing studies and learning to handle people in real-life situations. Inside, she talks to her supervisor, the owner of the healing house, and easily clears the issue of her absence at work the next day, making sure to tell him not to say anything to anyone about her absence. This leaves her with a free mind to steel herself, as thoroughly as possible, for the main reason she has come to the Mud Quarters.

The Swindling Angel sits three blocks down from the healing house. It's still day, so the tavern is mostly empty, allowing Meli to walk in unhampered and call over the barkeeper – a plump woman with thin blond hair and violet eyes – with no hassle. "Saia?" Meli asks. "Is Ramesh upstairs?"

"Head on up," Saia says. "You'll do him some good, hopefully."

Meli frowns. "Has something happened to him?"

Saia lets out an exasperated sigh. "Wish he'd tell me." She crosses her arms, slick with soapy water from washing the dishes. "I can't tell if he's angry or depressed or what have you, but he's been distant and snappy lately. You'd think he was having a moon cycle, for Procne's sake!"

_He's most likely been stressing himself over planning the princess' assassination,_ Meli thinks as she heads for the staircase located in a back corner of the tavern. _He seemed fine when I last talked to him, but that was near the end of waxing Soltime and it's already halfway through the waning month. _She had met Ramesh when she had gotten lost trying to find Yzades' healing house the first time she visited the Mud Quarters; after that he'd been a common sight at the healing house whenever she was working, simultaneously fascinated and mistrustful of her, or so she believes. Meli hadn't seen him for the past few weeks, but she'd attributed that to perhaps boredom on his part, or being busy with his own life. She certainly hadn't thought that he would be planning the death of Princess Thea.

The second floor of The Swindling Angel is usually for those who have no place to go after a hearty night of drinking, or don't have the ability to go anywhere after such a night. But there are two rooms that are reserved for the barkeeper Saia and her younger brother. The door Meli wants is marked with a wooden sign that says "Enter and Die" in Moshu, the ancient language of Anemos (which she only knows because Ramesh had told her once). She approaches it and knocks gently, steadying her shaking hand. "Ramesh? It's me, Meli."

There's a bit of shuffling and the scrape of wood against wood behind the door before it opens to reveal a young man who stands about a head and a half taller than Meli. He has the same blond hair and violet eyes as Saia, though his hair is chopped short and uneven, causing him to forever look as though he'd just woken up. His eyes have dark patches underneath them – patches that weren't quite so pronounced the last time she had seen him. He's also shirtless at the moment, and Meli glances away with a pronounced blush on her cheeks.

Ramesh snickers. "Prudish as always, aren't you," he says. "Come on in. I'll put a shirt on, really."

As soon as Meli walks in, though, she understands why Ramesh is only half-dressed. One of his windows catches the full light of the afternoon sun, and that combined with the usual high temperatures of Soltime makes for a rather hellish place to be cooped up. She sees papers, parchments, books, and used quill pens all over his writing desk. Dirty clothes litter the floor and the foot of his bed. On one of the walls is a map of the city, with colored pins stuck into various places, mostly clustered in the districts closest to Solzea Castle, including Deo Auris. She sighs. "You don't need to put a shirt on," she says, sitting down on the bed. "Iris knows I'd like to do it myself, and I haven't even been in here a minute."

Ramesh smirks. "What's stopping you now? No one's going to see you here. Well, as long as you stay away from the windows."

"Ramesh!"

"You'll be fine! It's just me, after all! Besides, after knowing you for so long, surely I deserve to see what's under that shirt at _least_ once! They look really – "

"_Ramesh._" This is the most irritating aspect of Ramesh's person: not that he's so loose with himself and others (though that's still a problem) but that he's nearly a perfect gentleman whenever Meli enlists his assistance in working with the families of the Mud Quarters. A role model, even, for the younger kids in the Quarters. Why can't he be that role model all of the time? Meli laments to herself.

_And how could such a carefree person be capable of contemplating murder?_

"Oh, fine, fine. Another day." Ramesh takes the chair from his desk, turns it around backwards, then sits down straddling it and resting his forearms on the back. "What are you here for anyway? Did you get bored with your needlework or something?"

Meli swallows. "No. I came to inform you that I won't be in on Sun's Eve so that you wouldn't wonder where I was." She smiles a little. "Not that you would have noticed, all things considered."

"Hey, now, don't be all passive-aggressive like that! I still like you, it's just that I was busy and everything. We measly peasants down here in the Quarters have quite the life, after all! Where're you gonna be, then?"

Here it is: the moment of truth. Or untruth, rather. "I'll be visiting the Ildelia Gardens with Gregor Alerio," she replies.

Ramesh stares at her in disbelief. "But wait a damn minute! Aren't you against all that marriage and courtship crap?"

She lifts her head in a haughty manner, drawing herself up like a queen. "I've already made it clear that if I'm going to be visiting Ildelia with him, I won't be agreeing to any such thing either now or at any point in the future. It's simply a mild courtesy to Gregor, for lack of a better term. I have no intention of binding myself to him...or to anyone else for that matter."

"What about that teacher of yours, what's-his-name?"

"Professor Reyes. What about him?"

"He ain't collared, is he?" "Collared" is Mud slang for being intimately involved with someone.

Meli drops her dignified pose slightly; she won't have to lie here. "No. But regardless, I can't marry him, or carry any sort of relationship with him other than that of a student and a teacher."

Ramesh rolls his eyes. "Are you gonna give me that crap about focusing on your work and whatnot? 'Cause look, even with all the stuff I'm doing, _I'm_ looking for someone, okay? You really can't do this shit alone, especially not in Mudhell."

Funny: the professor had expressed the same sentiment to her earlier. Meli shakes her head, wishing the subject would stop popping up all over the place like rabid mushrooms. "It's not that," she says with a sad smile. "My parents don't mind whether I marry or not. But I know beyond a doubt that if I were to marry, they would accept no less than a nobleman like Gregor as my husband. A simple instructor from the academy is out of the question."

Ramesh spits on the floor. "That's such bullshit. Marry whoever the hell you want."

"Ah, that's one of the luxuries you have that I don't."

A bitter look crosses Ramesh's face. "Not like we get to enjoy it for long." He twists his body around so that he's sitting correctly on his chair. He gazes out the window. "I'm sick of this shit here, and yeah, you've got stupid shit over at your place too that I'd like to see gone. There's gotta be a way to change things, make it so that everyone's equal or at least more equal than they are now."

"What do you suggest?"

"What do I suggest?" He glances back at her, a mischievous gleam in his violet eyes."Scrap everything. Start over. Throw the world into chaos and make a new order from the chaos."

A chill runs through Meli's blood. She's disturbed by how careless Ramesh seems to have become, even though she can sense an undercurrent of desperation behind the joviality. "A lot of people will be hurt if such a thing should happen," she says quietly.

Ramesh scowls. "A lot of people are being hurt already. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch, honestly. Might as well put that suffering to good use, don't you think?" He grins at her. "Making the best of a bad situation and all that."

Meli can't return the grin. She finds nothing to smile about in this situation, not even in an ironic manner. She takes what she believes may be her last breath. "And what price will be paid for this 'new order'? Shall you kill the king...or the princess?" She glances away for a few seconds, for direct eye contact would be taken as a challenge, and simply speaking like this is challenge enough for her.

To his credit, Ramesh covers up his surprise with a contemptuous snort, and he folds his arms, staring curiously at Meli. "Well, if either of them died – or both of them! – sure, that'd be convenient." He narrows his eyes. "But hey, you're not implying that _I'm_ going to kill either of them, are you? I mean, that's a death wish right there, and I'm a crazy bastard but I ain't _that_ crazy." There's a nervous edge to his words, wrought most likely by paranoia...and perhaps uncertainty.

Unfortunately, Meli can't figure out a way to probe at that uncertainty, to convince him as subtly as possible to cease his deadly plans. She realizes it's a nigh impossible task if he's denying everything...which is nothing less than she should have expected, she tells herself, feeling stupid. "I was being rhetorical," she says to Ramesh. "It's a common sin of the aristocracy, as you say."

"No shit." He's still giving her that piercing gaze so commonly attributed to Jupiter Adepts: eyes that seemed to see every secret in every part of one's body, and a mind that could if the Adept could patch a connection through physical touch. Just a single feather-light touch on an article of clothing would do the trick.

Meli focuses on being her usual self while simultaneously signaling, with a quirked eyebrow, that _he's_ being the irrational, suspicious creature, not her. "Shall I ask what you've been up to the past few weeks?" she asks conversationally, her voice up to its normal level.

There's a brief silence as his eyes shift over to the books on his desk. "Was pestering the important people to give a crap about the Mudhole. Same shit, different day." He suddenly smiles brightly at Meli. "And wouldn't you know it, they listened to my bitching for once."

Meli blinks in astonishment. "How did you...that's absolutely wonderful!" she says, meaning it with all her heart. She relaxes. "Hopefully we can see some improvements in the next year or so. What are their plans, if any?"

"Some of the guys from Solzea are gonna take a tour of the Mud Quarters this Sun's Day. Grand Advisor Tulden, the Minister of Coin..." Ramesh winks at her. "And even Thea herself is coming to check this place out!"

Things fall together in Meli's mind far too quickly. Each click of a settled piece stabs into her, filling her with more and more dread.

She asks for the final piece of the puzzle: "And you'll be their guide to the Quarters as you were mine, correct?"

A sarcastic look. "Yeah, right! I asked Glenna to do it. Like hell I was going to deal with those smarmy bastards if there wasn't a hard contract involved! And anyway, other things came up, you know?"

Meli does know.

_Ramesh will kill Princess Thea this Sun's Day, right here in the Quarters._

"Of course, you're more than welcome to talk with them," continues Ramesh, waving a casual hand. "Birds of a feather and all that. And hey, they'll probably listen to you more anyway, so babble their ear off."

"What time will they be arriving?"

"Maybe after three. They'll be starting over by Gane and Sallak, I think." He shrugs. "Whatever, if you come down here you can't miss them, seriously. Just go wherever the riots are." He snickers.

Ramesh's observation about the social patterns of those in the Quarters is too plausible for Meli's comfort. "Well, I'm sincerely glad that you've made progress," she says, standing up. "It's a shame I won't see you there, though. And I can imagine that others will certainly be looking for you. After all, you're the one who persuaded the princess of all people to come down, correct? Quite an achievement, if I may say so. You should be honored for it."

For a moment, there's an unfocused look in Ramesh's eyes. "Yeah. Maybe I should."

O-O-O

Watersday continues on as normal when she leaves the Mud Quarters, but Meli finds herself coming down with a case of the anxious jitters, her limbs shaking and her stomach churning with a sense of impending doom. She nearly trips getting out of the carriage that drops her off in front of the boarding house. Once she's inside her room, she shuts the door by falling back against it and sliding to the floor, face in her hands.

_Why?_ she asks herself, trembling. _Why must things be like this?_ Meli can't even bring herself to calm down through her usual method of meditative breathing. She'd known of the enormity of the task set before her by the Wise One since she'd seen him, but after speaking to Ramesh, it feels as though the task has been picked up and dropped on her shoulders like a dead body.

She'd asked the Wise One when Ramesh was going to attempt his kill. _Within the week,_ the Wise One had replied. What an understatement! Meli has _a single day_ to do what she can to prevent Weyard's destruction. There is no room for error, and it's precisely when there's no room for error that the most grievous errors happen.

_Why did the Wise One appear to me?_ Meli wonders, feeling the stinging tears working their way out of the corners of her closed eyes. _Why didn't he appear to the princess herself to warn her? It would have been much more efficient. What can I do? _Something occurs to her then, a revelation sprung from years of studying lore. _Am I...being tested? But whatever for? What could anyone want with me besides a body to warm the bed at night?_ She glances up. _Mars? Do you have an answer?_

The altar to her patron god is set up on a dark red cloth in the southernmost corner of her room, on an overturned wooden crate. The main feature is a simple sculpture of a large, upside-down triangle of scarlet glass embedded in a chunk of metallic black rock: the alchemical symbol for fire. On either side of the sculpture are small paintings, one of a creature with a lion's head and a salamander's body and one of an erupting Mount Aleph. Scattered elsewhere on the altar are various other objects: a small potted cactus, sticks of cinnamon; dried peppers; a plate containing the ashes of a burnt prayer on parchment; and in the center, an elegant ornamental oil lantern.

Meli summons enough strength to walk over to the altar and kneel reverently in front of it. She is more devoted than most Adepts to the god that's granted her elemental abilities. In some ways, it's puzzling even to herself, since it's not as though there have been any major divine interventions in her life that she can attribute to Mars (or to any other deity for that matter). But she's fascinated by the numerous myths surrounding the fire elemental. She admires the passion and strength that he represents, qualities that she feels she conspicuously lacks, particularly for a Mars Adept. His uncontrollable, excitable nature frightens a number of people from wanting anything to do with him except give the minimal amount of acknowledgment, but Meli sees something significant in the fact that there are almost as many stories involving Mars' romantic life as there are stories about Mars' battles. She finds comfort in this fine balance of the victories and tragedies in life, and as she lights the lantern on the altar as a meditative focus, Meli thinks of the sheer vitality Mars possesses, praying that she, too, will have the strength and audacity to pull through on the task that the Wise One has given her. She doesn't get a specific answer – she never has – but she feels immensely comforted nonetheless.

She relaxes and gazes at the flickering lantern flame, imagining it burning away all of her doubts and weaknesses.

O-O-O

**For a deleted scene from this chapter, check this out: http(:)//my-psychosium(.)livejournal(.)com/40095(.)html.**


	5. Excuuuuse Me, Princess

Meli wakes up early on Sun's Eve morning after a few hours of light sleep, sprawled in front of her tiny altar to Mars. Her head is dizzy with hunger, but instead of going to get something to eat, she crawls into her bed and lies down for a bit, still feeling peaceful from last night's prayer session. She eats at least one good meal before heading over to the Alerio manor to speak with Princess Thea...and upon reaching the doorstep, suddenly wishes that she hadn't as her stomach twists itself inside out with anxiety wrought from going to meet a person of much importance.

The door is answered by a servant, who fetches Gregor at her request. Gregor smiles gently at Meli as he leads her through the mansion to the drawing room. "Don't be so nervous," he says. "Thea doesn't bite. Not hard, anyway."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Meli says, wishing she had a piece of ginger to chew on to calm her nerves, which are back with a vengeance after being beaten away last night.

"Then what is it?"

Meli shakes her head, thinking of the lantern flame to incinerate the shadows in her mind.

O-O-O

Princess Edethea Cordelia Daulutidus Valeriam sits primly in a velvet chair of dark green in the airy drawing room. She has curled sand-colored hair down to her shoulders, turquoise eyes in a heart-shaped face, and a dainty figure. She wears an aqua satin gown trimmed with white lace and dark teal ribbons. She exudes the air of being a woman far older than her eighteen years, though there's a certain childishness to the way she's crossed her legs.

Standing off to her right side is her personal guard Minayo, an Izuman girl of about the same age. She's dressed in a black and red Izuman short robe over fitted black pants and sandals, with shin guards. Her left hand rests loosely on her hip, drawing attention to the short sword attached to a horizontal sheath positioned behind her back. Minayo briefly regards Meli with almond-shaped dark eyes before returning to staring intently at nothing in particular.

"Your Highness, may I introduce the Lady Melisande de l'Umbrano, from the house of Lysander," Gregor says.

Meli curtsies. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your Highness."

"The feeling is mutual," Thea says with a bland smile. "My cousin here says that you wish to discuss something with me?"

"Y-yes. And, if you will allow it, I would prefer that Gregor not overhear it."

Thea raises her eyebrows, then gives a graceful shrug. "If that is what makes you comfortable enough to speak."

"You sure that's smart?" Minayo asks – in perfect Yardel, much to Meli's surprise, although with a bit of a street edge to her vocal delivery.

"It'll be fine." Thea slyly glances at Minayo. "Or are you saying you don't think you can defend me against a mere healer?"

"It's those healer types you gotta watch for," replies Minayo, casting another suspicious look in Meli's direction. "They know how to fix you, which means they know how to break you."

"Ah, well, that's fine," Gregor speaks up, gesturing awkwardly. "There's something I should be reading up on anyway, so...I shall be in the library if needed." He bows and leaves, pulling the heavy wooden door shut behind him.

"Please, do take a seat, Melisande," Thea says, motioning to another chair. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Meli sits down and straightens out her skirts (layered, now, as is the usual fashion for females of noble standing) before speaking. "Your Highness, someone wishes to take your life."

Thea smiles in an indulging manner, as though she is speaking to a child. "That's nothing new, I'm afraid. I've long since learned that there will always be someone who wants to see the royal heads on a pike."

"True enough. But this person has the means, drive, and method to carry it out. His name is Ramesh Flernir; he was the one who convinced you and some of the members of the Ministerial Ring to make the tour of the Quarters under the pretense of seeing for yourselves what needs to be repaired there. He intends to strike when you visit on Sun's Day."

Thea frowns. "How did you come by this information? And have you made any effort to stop him yourself?"

"To answer the latter, I visited him and tried to convince him to cease his plans without revealing what I knew, to no avail. As to the former question..." Meli meets Thea's eyes. "As unbelievable as this will sound, I was warned by the Wise One yesterday morning."

Both Thea and Minayo are clearly skeptical. "You cannot possibly mean the Wise One that spoke to the Catalysts," Edethea says.

"Whoever I may mean, I don't see any harm in increasing your defenses, assuming that you'll still go through with your visit to the Quarters..."

"Of _course_ I shall visit the Quarters," snaps Thea, offended. "Do you think I have no integrity?"

_Ask that in the Quarters and see if you like the answers you get. _"I apologize for my careless remark," Meli says. "I simply wanted to confirm whether you would go or not so that I may make plans to be there myself. Since I was entrusted with this information, I feel I have a duty to see it through to the end."

"I don't see that it's such a big deal, Thea," Minayo says. "It's the Mudhole anyway. You'd definitely be better off with an extra guard or two. Or ten. Though we've got five already for you alone, and one each for the other bastards with you."

"What? We cannot afford to hire any more guards for a small thing like this than is necessary. Father's ridiculous spending has put us in such debt, and we need the money for so many other things! Your constant vigilance is all I'll need, Minayo. Relieve one of my guards of duty, and tell the others that only three guards shall be needed for the Grand Advisor and those with him." Thea's face grew serious, and she turned her attention to Meli. "I do realize that my death would be a tragic thing, and I speak not from vanity but from recognition of my status as Neo Valeriam's princess. However, my sister Vianah holds many of my ideals. She will continue my work should I cease to finish it in this life."

"That's not quite the problem here, your Highness," Meli cuts in. "Ramesh plans to use a deadly Jupiter spell from ancient Anemosian texts to kill you, though I don't know which one. Should you be killed in such a way, your father the king would instantly assume that Contigo was conspiring against Neo Valeriam, and he would incite the Valerians to war."

"You believe in such theories?" asks Thea. "I am familiar enough with the spells that you mention, you realize, and I find them quite fantastical as to verge on ridiculous. Stabbing someone through with a burst of air? Lightning bolts strong enough to incinerate an entire city in a second? Wrenching the breath from someone's lungs to suffocate them? What nonsense. And I highly doubt that this Ramesh is a trained Adept. Anything he musters will be something that Minayo or any of the other guards can handle. I shall have my Djinni, as well. He won't stand a chance."

This does nothing to reassure Meli, who is despairing for the outcome of this conversation. "Your Highness, you will have to forgive my incessant worry, but I am under the impression that, should Neo Valeriam and Contigo go to war, the network of allies combined with our current technology will ensure that this war will not only spread throughout Weyard, but it will be devastating to the point of destroying civilization."

"And who told you that? The Wise One, a shadowy myth?" Thea lets out a long sigh. "Melisande, I may look to be a flighty chit, but I am a very practical girl. I have no time for ghost stories or god-voices. I look to the world around me to make my decisions." She stands up and pushes some of her curls back over her shoulder. "If your only purpose in being here is to relate your hallucinations, you are dismissed. I don't take advice from hysterical women."


	6. More With Minayo

Meli can barely keep herself from crying as she leaves the Alerio manor. She's feared this from the start: that the one person who needs to be convinced of the reality of the situation, the princess, would scorn her. She supposes she can't blame the princess, though. It _is_ all rather short notice, and the whole thing _does_ rather sound like the rantings of a hysterical woman. And Meli has little to recommend herself as a respectable authority. True, she does claim descendance from Isaac Lysander, but that is a faint connection of blood that had started to lose authority even before her mother's adolescent years. She's no channeler chosen by the gods, nor is she a sagestress with the wisdom of the seven ages of alchemy. She is only Meli.

Only Meli, who perhaps puts too much faith in silly little stories from primitive minds.

Even before she's left the main promenade in front of the castle, she sees the reason in the princess' words. Of course Thea would have naught but the best of Adepts protecting her. Surely even a small entourage as Thea had described would be enough to fend off Ramesh, because surely Ramesh hadn't _truly_ learned to harness the power of the Anemosian spells, because that would just be...absurd. And as powerful as Meli considers Ramesh's normal powers to be in relation to hers, she is (almost) certain that he would not be able to stand up against a combined force of Thea, Minayo, and the royal guards.

_But there must be some sort of danger, or else the Wise One would not have warned me about... _Meli stops in her tracks, almost bumping into a little boy walking by her in the opposite direction. She frowns and sighs. She doesn't even know anymore that she really did encounter the Wise One. Even only a day after the incident, it feels only like the product of a disjointed dream. She's certain of what she heard, saw, and felt, but only in the sense that perhaps she could spin an interesting tale of it, if she had any sort of bardic inclinations. But truth measured by the depth of the heart's conviction always leads to ruin, a wise person had once said. She's positive she should remember who said it, but now she can't bring herself to care.

In a gloomy haze, Meli wanders the streets near the castle, trying to find solace somewhere, somehow. But she passes by all her favorite destinations: that one bakery with the delicious sweet cheese rolls, the bookstore run by two elderly Xiannese twin sisters, the flower shop where she bought the potted cactus for her altar. She instead finds herself on one of the stone bridges that cross the Sacred River, leaning against the carved stone railing and gazing at her broken reflection in the water's surface as the rest of Neo Valeriam breathes around her. Meli has the sudden thought that maybe she should have been born a Mercury Adept. Not only would it better fit her personality, but maybe she would have the ability to scry visions in the water, instead of having them appear to her out of the thin air. She could re-check her visions by staring deeply enough into the water, and she wouldn't have to rely on the whims of deities. Maybe.

"Oi." A young girl moves next to Meli. She's dressed in a silk dress of pale gold in the traditional Xiannese style and carries an open wooden parasol on her shoulder, shielding herself from the sunlight. Her black hair is pulled up into a single bun high behind her head, and decorated with a real lotus blossom. Her slanted eyes are lined thickly with black kohl, the eyelids blushed with rouge. Her lips smack of a bright red as well. "Pretty rich girl. You come with me, yes?" The girl speaks with a thick Xiannese accent.

"Er..." Meli is startled. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The girl nods furiously. "You come," she says, and in the next moment she's dragging Meli gently but firmly through the streets.

Too confused and emotionally exhausted to put up a fight, Meli lets herself be led to a dingy-looking pawnshop not far from the river. As they enter, the girl calls out to the owner. "Girl is here! Give room!"

"Sure enough." The owner, a middle-aged man, only points to a ladder located in a back corner of the shop, leading up to a hole.

Meli bites her lip; she doesn't like this. "You must forgive me, miss, but I r-really don't think – "

"Is okay!" the girl insists. "No harm, none at all. Need help." She ushers Meli to the ladder, and Meli feels she has no choice but to climb.

The attic room is small and shadowy, the glass windows covered in dirt and cobwebs and just barely opened to let a little more light in. Boxes of old junk line the walls. In the center sits a small wooden table, a footstool with its cushion bleeding stuffing, and an old armchair.

Upon entering, the girl walks briskly around the attic, peering at the boxes and poking at some of them with her now-closed umbrella. She opens the windows and pokes her head out, surveying the outside world before pulling her head back in and shutting the windows tightly with a painful creak. Once she finishes her strange ritual, she faces Meli. "All right, let's talk," she says in unaccented Yardel.

Meli stares. She recognizes the voice now. "Aren't you...?"

Minayo gives a smile of reddened lips. "Sorry about all the theatrics," she says. "It would be pretty bad if everyone in Neo Valeriam knew that Thea's personal ninja had abandoned her for a moment." She sits down in the armchair, laying the umbrella on the table. "Especially if what you were saying earlier is true."

"You...believe me?"

"Not in so many words," Minayo admits. "Don't really have any way of verifying it until after all's said and done. But like hell I'm letting anything happen to Thea on my watch." She sneezes. "Sorry about that. It's all the dust in here."

Meli starts to dig around in her purse for a handkerchief –

"Don't worry about it, I've survived worse." Minayo sniffles. "I'll try to keep this short, since this place sucks but it's pretty secure for this sort of thing."

"How did you find me?" Meli asks, feeling herself sweat in the still, hot air of the attic. "Did you follow me?"

"Sort of. I've got dogs that can sniff down anything. All I had to do was give a description of you and I could practically retrace your movements since you left the Alerio manor. Trusty ol' Yzades down below was the one who spotted you going towards the bridge. But forget all that, we can't have a bubbly-headed rich girl blabbing the kingdom's secrets, yeah? Here's what I wanna know – what are you gonna do from here?"

Meli tests the footstool with a hand, making sure it isn't going to fall apart beneath her. She carefully sits down on it and frowns at the lumpiness of the torn cushion. "I will be in the Mud Quarters. I don't know that I have the ability to prevent something from happening to her Highness, but I feel as though I must witness this to its end, whatever it may be."

Minayo grins. "Good. Maybe I can use you."

"How?"

"Still working that out, but since I wasn't able to convince Thea to get more guards, it's good to know I can drag you along. If anything, it's good just to have an extra pair of eyes floating around. Got anything special I should know about?"

"Nothing noteworthy. I'd like to think that my healing and defensive Psynergies will be useful enough, however."

"Ha! You don't see a lot of Mars healers around. They're either Mercury or Venus." She sneezes again, covering her mouth daintily with the tips of her fingers. "Whoo. Sorry. I was hoping you were packing some firepower under those skirts of yours, but that's just as well – the royal guard, including myself, runs on the theory that the best defense is a damn good offense, yeah? It'll be good to have a specialized Adept along."

"If I may make a humble suggestion," Meli says, "you will want to surround her Highness in as much Venus Psynergy as possible, to best counteract Ramesh's Jupiter element."

"Oh, yeah, he's one of the windbags. I'll deal with the bastard well enough. Is he any good? Ah, never mind, even if he was Ivan himself he still couldn't stand against me and four other Venus Adepts."

Meli can't help but laugh softly. "That's quite a claim to make."

"Wouldn't make it if it wasn't true. You got anything else I should know about this guy's plans? Like maybe _where_ in the Mud Quarters he would attack?"

Meli frowns. "I hadn't thought about that, I'm sorry to say." It's a good question, but Meli can't think of an answer to it. "Ramesh lives on the second floor of a tavern called The Swindling Angel, but I highly doubt he's going to attack the princess so close to home – he wouldn't want his sister involved."

Minayo wrinkles her nose as she leans forward to sketch something in the thick layer of dust on the table. "So that would be around here, right?" she says, marking a spot with an X.

Meli peers at what Minayo has drawn. She eventually recognizes it as a rough map of the Mud Quarters. "No, more north. It's not quite that deep into the Quarters."

She makes the necessary adjustments. "So you don't think he's going to show up anywhere near here."

"I don't believe so. But...I must confess that the Ramesh I knew would never even think about killing another person, never mind the princess, so perhaps my prediction of his behavior is flawed at this point."

Minayo sneezes again. "Damn. All right. We'll just have to keep on our guard, then. I've got a couple of dogs down in the Mudhole that might be able to track him. What's he look like?" Meli gives a description. "Orochi's balls, he's a Contigan! That's not suspicious at _all._"

"He's Valerian-born. But he will be counting on his appearance and his element to give the impression that Contigo is plotting against Neo Valeriam."

"What a crazy bastard, yeah?" Minayo lets out a sigh and rubs her nose with her knuckles. "Argh...I can do things by the throw of a stick in a storm, but that doesn't mean I like it or that I feel any more confident about my gut feeling every time I have to do it."

Meli bows as deeply as she can, contrite and feeling slightly sheepish. "I'm terribly sorry. I haven't been much help, have I?"

"Don't be stupid! You've given me enough to work with, both for planning things out and for working on fleet feet. This'll be fine! Really!"

But a tense, uncertain silence settles over the two young women like another layer of dust in the room.

Minayo speaks again. "So, I think I should apologize for Thea, a little," she says. "That she was kind of, you know, rude and stuff to you."

Meli shakes her head. "She had every right to answer as she did. I realize how foolish I must have looked and sounded."

"Thea's a nice girl, really. It's just that sometimes – or all the time – she puts her people before herself." Minayo gives a sniffle. "Makes her a better leader than her father, which is good and all, but it causes a lot of grief for those around her, yeah? And she's so damn stubborn. It's going to get her killed one day. If this thing tomorrow doesn't kill her, that is."

Meli parts with Minayo with a feeling of goodwill and trust towards her and a bit of reassurance that someone else is willing to take her dream visions seriously. But as she steps out onto the street again, she expects the gravel to fall away beneath her, as though her very presence brings destruction to everything around her. Every time she hears a child laughing, she wonders if it'll be his last, and whether his mother will be gone or will live to mourn her child's death. Every time she passes a building she recognizes, she can see its ruins clearly in her mind, more real than the reality in front of her.

The lantern flame of her altar, meant to chase away the darkness of doubt, fades in Meli's memory with every step she takes towards home.


	7. Bare Grace Misery

Thea tilts her head inquisitively. "Lady Melisande. We meet again." There's a look of mild surprise on her face, though it's hard to tell whether it's tinged with annoyance or not.

Meli respectfully curtsies. Her head swims in a wave of nervous nausea as she stands upright again. "I believe I did mention yesterday that I was going to be here to see things through, your Highness."

"You neglected to mention that you were going to be our guide to Apunia Dator."

"There were some eleventh-hour problems that landed me in this position." In truth, Meli had tracked down Glenna earlier that day and volunteered to take over the job for her. Glenna, who'd been quite vexed when she'd found out that Ramesh had dumped the duty on her with little warning, had been only too happy to pass the job onto Meli in favor of sleeping away the entirety of Sun's Day.

So now Meli stands before Princess Thea and her dignified but tiny party of high-ranking Valerian royal officials and royal guards, clad in the humblest clothes that she owns: a brown cotton dress with fraying embroidery on the hems over beige pants and scuffed boots. Meli normally feels comfortable with dressing "below her station", but even years of it don't allow her to ignore the disdainful looks she's getting from Grand Advisor Tulden and the two present members of the Ministerial Ring. Still, the discomfort from that pales in comparison to how she feels taking charge of a situation that seems larger than Weyard itself. Being so directly involved may get her killed today, and by someone she considers a friend, no less, but Meli believes she has no other choice. She doesn't know if she could live with a rested conscience if she had decided to merely sleep the day away like Glenna.

_Venus, grant me a will as steady as the ground beneath my feet. Mercury, wash away my fears with your holy waters. Jupiter, sharpen my vision so that I may see what the sky sees. Mars...let my power burn bright and true like your flames._

With that final prayer, Meli steps up to lead Princess Thea and her entourage through the chaos of the Mud Quarters.

O-O-O

It takes approximately three hours to traverse most of the Mud Quarters. The district itself, while sizable, is not exceptionally large, but Thea insists on having the Grand Advisor take copious notes at what she considers noteworthy locations – and there are many, much to everyone's distress. In Meli's case, she wonders whether having the princess standing in one place for so long will make her an easier target for Ramesh, wherever he may be. Minayo, too, stays closer to Thea at these times: her gaze leaps from side to side, watching for any giveaway that doom might be upon them. But there is nothing, not even from Minayo's "dogs", who haven't seen a person of Ramesh's description walking around today – though he most certainly existed yesterday. The only consolation is that Thea appears to have heeded Meli's warnings a little; she walks with a faint shield of Venus Psynergy sparkling around her, courtesy of one of her Djinni.

The sky has turned to a sallow gray by the time Meli approaches the farthest part of the Mud Quarters, which is right up against the southernmost wall of Neo Valeriam. This section of the district is mostly abandoned for a number of reasons, ranging from superstition about ghostly thieves stealing prized possessions to the hope that maybe if one moved closer to Solzea Castle, the riches of the royalty would drip down to the poor like molten gold dribbling down the sides of a smelting pot.

At the edge of the dividing street into the gloomy, run-down blocks, Thea looks over the sorry scene with a critical eye. "How positively horrible!" she exclaims. "There is an entrance to Neo Valeriam here! This is not a favorable image of our city for visitors to be greeted with! I cannot believe this has been left unheeded for so long. Grand Advisor, make note – we shall renovate this area as quickly as possible!"

_The princess certainly has her priorities straight,_ Meli thinks, trying to keep her disapproval from showing on her face. But if this section is made to be livable once more, it may attract people again and help to relieve the overcrowding that's common to the Quarters. The idea lightens Meli's spirits a bit.

While Grand Advisor Tulden scribbles something onto parchment with a thin stick of hard charcoal clasped in a wooden holder, Thea proceeds forward into the empty dirt street. "Your Highness," Meli starts, "are you sure you wish to go so far into these parts? There is not much to see besides more of the same, and some of the buildings are on the verge of collapse. It is unsafe."

Thea sniff scornfully. "If we are to remake this area, we must have an idea of how much we must fix. Materials and time cost money, something that we are painfully short on. We need to have an estimate to present in a proposed budget to the Ministerial Ring." She walks onward. At her side, Minayo gives Meli an apologetic glance over her shoulder.

Meli quickly trudges back into the lead. She's not been in this part of the Mud Quarters before, but she refuses to have Thea in the front of the group – the effect would be akin to having a chicken stretching its neck out to be beheaded by a butcher. So she continues to guide them, speaking from knowledge she doesn't have, with a confidence she doesn't feel, in order to bring a sense of normalcy and usefulness to her day. And surprisingly enough, it works. For a time.

While answering a question from one of the Ministers near an abandoned grocery store, Meli notices that Minayo has suddenly fallen back from the group, standing in the middle of the street. "Minayo?" she asks. "Is something wrong?"

Minayo's expression is blank for a moment. She takes one step back, then another. Her dark brown eyes flash golden...and a triumphant smile splits her face. "Gotcha, you bastard," she says under her breath. "You should've stayed off the ground." She dashes into a nearby alley.

Shouts ring out, followed by another flash of light. Moments later, Minayo drags out a blond man wrapped tightly in thick green vines and shoves him into the street for all to see. The four guards that have flanked the party up until now rush to surround him, swords drawn.

"Ramesh!" Meli exclaims.

Ramesh looks up at Meli, and the mixture of betrayal and hatred darkening his tanned face stus Meli into a soft gasp. _This can't be him,_ she thinks, dismayed. _It can't be him. It can't be him. It can't be –_

_...human._

This last thought strikes Meli out of nowhere. But she has little time to mull it over, for Thea's voice cuts into her thoughtstream.

"So you were right about your concerns, Lady Melisande," Thea says, a cold gaze fixed on Ramesh as she approaches him cautiously. "You'll have to be rewarded accordingly, then, and you also have my apologies for my behavior yesterday."

"Neither rewards nor apologies are needed for me, your Highness," answers Meli, glancing away from Ramesh.

Thea ignores Meli. "Minayo, how did you know he was near?"

"I can read the ground within a certain area so that I can get an idea of what the surface looks like, to put it simply," Minayo explains. She smirks down at Ramesh. "But once I connect with the ground, I can also feel the weight of living things on it, so while your little invisibility trick might've fooled my dogs, it wasn't going to get past me."

Ramesh scowls silently at her.

_Invisibility?_ Meli's read of an alchemical artifact that allows for invisibility in the shadows, but it was supposed to have been lost or sealed away not long after the Rise. She hasn't heard of a specific Psynergetic ability for invisibility, though.

"What is your name, again?" Thea asks Ramesh. "Melisande here told me once, but I've forgotten."

Ramesh remains stubbornly silent.

She sighs, giving a regal shrug. "Very well. We shall find out your name soon enough in front of the courts. Is there anything you might wish to say before I have my guards arrest you for treason?"

At this, a sphere of lightning explodes from around Ramesh and surrounds him, reducing the vines binding him to ashes and causing Minayo and the guards to quickly back off lest they get electrocuted. With eyes glowing a fierce violet, he points a single hand at Thea.

"_Breathwrench,_" he whispers in a voice half-not his own.

Everyone watches in horror as a glyph carves itself into the ground beneath Thea's feet, kicking up dirt with the force. Her cry of surprise is cut off by a miniature cyclone that erupts from the glyph, trapping her within its winds. Her eyes widen. She falls to her knees, gasping for air. Her hands clutch at her throat, at her chest, at her stomach...as though she could pull from her flesh the breath she so desperately needs now.

"Son of a bitch!" Minayo's on Ramesh in an instant, her short sword glittering at his throat. "Take it back _now_, or your head's served at the next royal dinner!"

"Ramesh, please," begs Meli. "Retract the spell!"

Ramesh only glares at her. "How did you find out about this?" he growls. "I told _no one!"_

Meli shakes her head. "That's not important! Please, just – "

"Bitch," Ramesh hisses. "You had someone spying on me, didn't you? You brought your little royal intrigue tricks down here, is that it?"

"No! That has nothing to do with – "

Ramesh suddenly jabs an elbow into Minayo's side. He follows up with a kick to the stomach that leaves her bent over, groaning in pain. But she recovers quickly, settling into a sword stance with her sword in hand. The four royal guards also join the fight against Ramesh, wielding blades sparkling with Venus Psynergy.

Meli tears her eyes away from the terrible clash and turns her attention to Thea, who is still caught in the throes of Ramesh's deadly spell. She notices Grand Advisor Tulden and the two members of the Ministerial Ring fleeing the scene. "Get help from the nearest street guards!" she calls, but her stomach sinks as she realizes that they don't seem to be listening to her. _What sorts of people are leading this kingdom? _She puts her hands together, recites a short prayer to Mars, and draws on her fire element as best as she can. She doesn't know how much of the spell he can neutralize, but she has to try...or else it could mean the death of Weyard.

With a sharp intake of breath, Meli flips her palms out. "Guardian!"

Scarlet bleeds into the pale purple light of the glyph markings, indicating a mixing of elements. Neither the magickal glow nor the howling winds fade away completely...but it's enough.

Coughing and trembling, Thea slams her palms to the ground, her forehead almost touching the dirt as she bends over. She rasps something that gets lost in the roar of the winds, and her hands glow.

A Venus Djinni sprouts into existence in front of Thea. Rings of light emanate from the ground around it, spilling out the flowery design of a glyph twice the size of the original Jupiter glyph beneath Thea. In one flash, both glyphs shatter into shards of Psynergy that fade with the wind. The Djinni winks out of existence, and Thea collapses to the ground.

Meli rushes over to Thea. She helps her get to a sitting position, supporting Thea as she sways back and forth erratically, trying to regain control of herself. Meli quickly checks Thea's pulse on the side of her neck with a light touch of two fingers. It's racing, but that's to be expected from the ordeal. Meli casts Aura to repair the damage done to Thea's life force by Breathwrench, as well as to generally help bring her back to her senses. Thea suddenly whispers something that Meli can't hear, and Meli leans forward to hear her better.

"Thank you," Thea repeats, her shoulders heaving.

Meli bows her head, more in sheer relief than in acknowledgment of the princess' gratitude. Before she can congratulate herself on saving Thea's life, however, Minayo crashes into the ground near her, having been thrown back by some great force. Startled, Meli jumps back and glances first at Minayo's slightly-battered form, then up.

Ramesh stands in the midst of a murder scene, covered in blood and sweat. The four royal guards lie dead around him. The air reeks of seared flesh and sizzles with an occult energy that disagrees sharply with the mortal realm. Electrical sparks explode like tiny fireworks around his hair and hands.

"Spiritsdamned asshole!" Minayo grumbles, getting up again. She brushes dirt and bits of burnt paper off her clothes. "If it weren't for my _kami_ seals, I might be dead too!"

Meli swallows as fear runs cold through her blood. _No! Why is he so powerful?_

A side of Ramesh's upper lip curls up into a monstruous sneer as he turns to face Meli and Thea. "You're still alive," he says to Thea, his tone of voice accusing her of some heinous crime.

"And I am not at all sorry to be," replies Thea as she stands up shakily, aided by Meli. "You have been foiled. There is no point to continuing. You face death already as a result of attempting to take my life, and you face a grisly execution as a result of killing four royal guards. But if you surrender now, I will convince the courts to be lenient with you."

"I don't want your damn leniency!" Ramesh snaps. "You've been 'lenient' with the Quarters for at least the past twenty years, and it's gotten us _nowhere_. I'm sick of us being ignored all the damn time!" He takes a large stone pendant in the shape of a lion's head from around his neck and brandishes it. "Psy Drain!"

Meli's hit by a wave of dizziness as part of her Psynergy is drained from her body. Through her suddenly garbled vision, she notices ribbons of Venus Psynergy streaming from Minayo and Thea, the gold mixing with crimson as it swirls into the mouth of the lion's head pendant. The stone of the pendant glows a hellish orange. "R-Ramesh, what ae you doing...?" Meli stutters out as her head clears.

Ramesh's smile is strangely innocent. "Just calling a friend to clean things up." The cheer leaves his face. "Why the hell did you have to be here? I liked you."

"You don't have to kill me," Meli says softly, tears stinging her eyes ever so slightly. "You don't have to kill _anyone._ Please...just stop this. There isn't any point."

There's a pause. "It's too late," Ramesh murmurs. "I made a promise to my...'friend'. If I don't keep it, dying here is only the start of my problems."

"What in Weyard did you promise?"

An unstable laugh. "That he'd have something to eat today."

Minayo stares. "Crazy bastard! What the hell are you planning on doing?"

The specific design of the pendant stirs something up in Meli's memory, something she gleaned and stored while devouring stories of legends and myths. "Don't tell me...you mean to summon one of the Great Summon Spirits?" she asks, flabbergasted. "Do you even have any Djinn? There is a _reason_ they are used as the medium for summoning!"

"Don't need 'em," says Ramesh, his usual cockiness returning. "This thing magnifies the elemental energy I got from you guys enough so that I can make the initial call."

Meli suddenly realizes the source of Ramesh's unnatural strength. _He was directing his Psynergy through the pendant!_

"I won't allow it!" Thea says. "Grand Gaia!"

Ramesh dodges the beam of Venus Psynergy that Thea fires at him. Minayo rushes up and slashes at him, opening a cut on his forearm, but he continues to be undeterred as he unleashes a Storm Ray spell at Minayo while uttering the words of the summon spell at top speed. Minayo dives to the side and throws up a three-seal shield for protection. Before Meli can think to put in her own attack, Ramesh has already completed the incantation.

"I call upon Earth's might enflamed – the one who commands thirty-and-three demonic legions! Gryphon of Hell, heed my summons! _Zagan!_" Ramesh traces a glowing orange pattern in the air and then backs away quickly.

The pattern erupts into a pillar of fire that burns as high as the two-story buildings on either side of the street. The heated backlash forces everyone to retreat a couple of feet, and just as well: for a creature emerges from the flames, as tall as one and a half men, with the head of a lion, the horn of a unicorn, the upper torso of a polar bear, and the hindquarters of a horse. It stands upright and wields a giant halberd that glimmers faintly with hellfire.

"Orochi's balls!" exclaims Minayo, wiping sweat from her face. "What _is_ that thing?"

Zagan roars. He swings his halberd, demolishing the upper levels of an empty apartment complex. His eyes, two scarlet gleams deep within the hollows of his head, fix hungrily upon Thea.

This finally spurs Meli to act, and she casts the most powerful offensive spell she knows. "Searing Beam!"

The fiery attack hits squarely in the center of Zagan's chest, stopping him in his tracks for a moment...but it doesn't even scorch his skin. He continues to lumber towards Thea, his halberd resting on his shoulder, ready for carnage. His steps get progressively faster, his strides longer.

"Hey, princess," Minayo says, backing up with her sword poised in front of her. "Might wanna hide or something right about now, yeah?"

Thea shakes her head. "I will stay to deal with this...thing. If left alone, it will surely demolish all of Neo Valeriam!" Her aura shines golden and white as she draws on her Psynergy.

Zagan suddenly springs forward, halberd poised to cleave Thea in half.

"No!" Meli and Minayo both shout.

"Eruption!"

A stream of lava explodes in front of Zagan. He howls in pain and stumbles backwards, his chest covered in fresh burns.

Meli turns around, recognizing the voice. "Professor?"

Clad in his scholar's robes, Florian smiles and waves. "Heard about her Highness' visit from a colleague of mine just today," he says, answering the question Meli's about to ask. "Looks like I arrived just in time. I didn't quite expect to see Zagan of all beings here, though. And where's Ramesh?"

To her dismay, Meli realizes that Ramesh has taken the chance to escape from the chaos. She sighs. "He's not so important right now," she says, noting with unease that the burns on Zagan's skin have partially healed already and are well on the way to full recovery. "What _is_ important is that we defeat Zagan somehow, before he kills the princess or destroys the city – or both."

Florian looks over Meli, Thea, and Minayo. "It would be fortunate if we had a Mercury Adept in our ranks, but Fate is rarely so nice," he says dryly. "Nevertheless, if you are prepared for a long fight, we can weaken him enough to force him back to Hades."

"Fine by me!" Minayo leaps into action, ten paper seals between each of her fingers, glowing with Venus power. Working fast, she flips and somersaults to avoid Zagan's counterattacks as she sets the seals down in a pattern around him. She lands gracefully off to the side. With three quick hand gestures, she activates the spell. "Rockjaw!"

Stone spikes protrude from the ground to clamp around Zagan's legs. He flails his arms, sending his halberd flying into the street some distance away. He twists his body...and breaks free from the earthly shackles in a matter of seconds. He bellows in frustration, the sound rattling the roofs and causing the ground to shake slightly beneath everyone's feet.

Minayo exhales. "So much for trapping him so we can just beat the hell out of him, yeah?"

The four Adepts wage a frantic war against the Great Summon Spirit, treading with caution while simultaneously throwing all of their Psynergetic reserves at him. But even with Meli constantly casting Impair on Zagan in an attempt to drop his defenses, only Florian's attacks seem to have any significant results – meaning that his attacks actually seem to hurt Zagan instead of merely annoy him before his self-healing mechanism takes over. Minayo alternates between using her powers and unleashing her best sword techniques. The former tends to bounce off Zagan like pebbles against leather; the latter draws little blood. Thea fares slightly better with the ability to summon the desert spirit Ramses with her two Venus Djinn, though the impact of this power still falls short of Florian's relative effectiveness against Zagan. The battle draws into a stalemate that is slowly, steadily shifting over to a bloody end as a result of weariness on the Adepts' part.

"Damn, the best we're doing is slowing him down!" Minayo says after firing off a Gaia spell. "Isn't there any other way to do this?"

Florian suddenly stops in the middle of casting Fireball as a thought seems to paralyze him.

Zagan chooses that moment to close the gap between them and slash at him with extended ebony claws shrouded in a dark red mist, sending Florian flying bloodily through the air.

Thea gasps. Minayo curses.

Meli shrieks. "_Florian!_" She runs over to where he's landed, her heart breaking ten times over at the sight of him crumpled on the ground. Zagan's claws have ripped deep into him, tearing both fabric and flesh and spilling his blood in torrents all over his clothes. His eyes are closed. She quickly prepares to cast Cool Aura on him –

"No. Save your energy. You will need it."

Meli stares. "What?"

Somewhere nearby, Minayo shouts, "Suck on this and see if you like it, yeah? Ragnarok!"

"You really are quite crude," Thea chides, though a tiny smile peeks through her voice. "Stone Spire!"

Florian manages to glance up at Meli. "Find Ramesh," he says softly, a wince of pain on his face. "He may be able to unsummon Zagan. I suspect that he's fled Neo Valeriam by now, but I don't believe he'll have gotten far. You can catch up with him if you go now."

Meli shakes her head furiously. "You'll need as much help as you can get here! And I have to heal you first!"

"We can all hold out until you find Ramesh. Go."

"B-but you're bleeding and – "

Florian suddenly reaches out and grasps her wrist. "Do you trust me, Melisande?"

The question is delivered with the same urgent firmness with which he's holding her. Meli manages a nod, her eyes wide with fear.

Florian releases her. "Then go." He smiles. "I will be fine."


	8. Land of the Daybreak

Meli's heart pounds as she runs as fast as she can through the street, heading for the exit out of the city that Thea had pointed out earlier. She's been second-guessing herself ever since she took that first step away from Florian – actually, she's been second- and third-guessing herself the entire day – but she has come too far to back out now. So even as the image of an injured Florian burns in her mind, she runs, trusting and praying and praying and trusting in the goodwill of those more powerful and capable than she.

The fields outside of Neo Valeriam are flat and grassy, with only a tree or a large rock here and there to break the monotony until one ventures into the forests. It's hardly an ideal spot to hide in, and yet Meli is still surprised when she easily spots Ramesh in the distance, standing in the middle of the grass with his back to her for all to see. _Is he even trying to hide?_ she wonders. She starts to run towards him, but thinks better of it (and not simply because her lower legs are starting to ache from all the running she's done). She throws up a quick shield around herself before approaching him with a cautious, deliberate stride.

She hasn't made much sound in her approach, but Ramesh whirls around anyway. His hand, glittering with Jupiter Psynergy, is raised as though to unleash an attack. Meli stops in her tracks, suddenly afraid of what he might do to her.

Silence passes between them, slow like a funereal procession. Meli stands still as death, barely daring to breathe; Ramesh is one word away from sending her to the river Styx.

She suddenly notices that Ramesh's fingers are twitching and shaking, and that something dark flickers behind his homicidal gaze. "Are you...?"

He suddenly collapses onto the ground.

Forgetting all fears of being attacked, Meli rushes to his side and looks him over. Skin is clammy to the touch, though he'salso sweating. Pulse is sky high. Breathing is erratic. His body trembles as though cold. "Ramesh," Meli says, "can you hear me? Please answer me! Ramesh!"

He gives an incoherent mumble before he passes out completely.

Meli kneels down next to him, preparing herself for healing. She has a fairly good idea of what's caused Ramesh to become so sick in both body _and_ mind – though this is the first time she's ever encountered it outside of an old book. Without using Djinn or a suitable equivalent as a medium for summoning a Great Summon Spirit, Ramesh has tainted his life force with the aethyric energy of the spirits, harmful to mortals if not filtered appropriately. There would have been problems even if he had summoned someone as benevolent as Flora. The fact that he called the demonic Zagan makes the situation all the more deadly for him.

Meli's not deterred, though, not yet. This is her element now; this is where she can be truly useful. With eyes closed in concentration, she starts small, moving her hands above Ramesh to cast Aura on him. She senses no difference in the state of his life force, so she moves up to Healing Aura. Still nothing. It's when she casts Cool Aura that she feels a backlash, like the reaction of a wild animal disturbed from its nap.

_There it is – the aethyric energy. Or demonic, rather._ Meli sees the silhouette of Ramesh's body in her mind's eye, a cool purple glow that is marred by splotches of red-tinged dark matter all over him that have suddenly risen up to defend their catch. Her face grimaces as she directs her Psynergy towards incinerating the writhing dark matter that sprouts from both of his hands and his chest. She's starting to panic – this is unlike anything she's ever encountered in her years of healing. Aural imperfections indicative of normal sickness tend to be inert, lifeless outgrowths. But the dark matter tainting Ramesh's life force is something dangerously close to alive, viciously fighting Meli's efforts to eradicate it.

And to her horror, it's succeeding.

Meli is forced to break contact with Ramesh a moment to regain herself. She wipes her sweaty palms on her dress, trying not to notice the pained look on Ramesh's face or the way that his fists keep on clenching and unclenching in rapid succession. She also ignores the hollowness in her head indicating that she might be on the verge of passing out herself. There is one more thing she may be able to try, but she's not sure if she has strength left to do it...or if she can even do it correctly.

_You do not stop until you have exhausted all your options,_ intones a voice in Meli's head – the owner of Jevara's Kures, her healing mentor. _If you do not do all that you know you can – no matter the extent of your knowledge – your patient's death is on your head. It is as though you murdered him yourself._

_Let it not be said that I am a murderess,_ Meli swears to herself. Swallowing tightly, she once again takes into her mind's eye the aural outline of Ramesh's body, blacker than she had seen it in moments prior. As she focuses her attention on the three centers of darkness in the hands and chest, she simultaneously brings to her consciousness the words of a prayer from the _Mzaraph Legra,_ one intended to specifically channel Mars' own divine essence for healing. Meli knows it because she's been determined to study and know all that she can about the Purifying Fire, but she's not had a chance to use it until now. It's a risky move, since she also lacks a medium that she can use as a filter between her life force and the aethyric energy she's going to call upon. But if she can save Ramesh's life with this, then so be it.

Meli speaks the words of the prayer tentatively at first, then louder as she climbs the cadence of the lines like stairs:

_"Hear my plea, flame of life_

_Crimson with blood of man and god alike_

_In this hour of hellish dark_

_Lend unto me thy sacred art_

_I ask for sight to see the way_

_That from thy side I shall not stray_

_I ask for strength to keep the course_

_That I may face this fatal force_

_By thy holy fire, thy brilliant light_

_Let me burn away this blinding night!"_

She exhales deeply with her last forceful words, and waits, because she doesn't know what else to do. What should she expect? The text she got the prayer from never elaborated on what happens _after_ the prayer. Perhaps there would be a sign somewhere, or a divine tingle in her spine, or maybe the dark matter would vanish right before her eyes and save her the trouble –

_It shall be as you ask._

Meli's eyes fly open, startled by the voice that seems to be inside and outside her head at the same time. If that isn't enough, she's almost certain that she can actually _hear_ a smirk in that strangely familiar voice as well.

She suddenly feels her Psynergetic aura flare up, her body burning pleasantly with a power that is both hers and not hers. Caught unawares by this, she nevertheless manages to rein in her surprise long enough to make productive use of this gift. "Cool Aura," she whispers, and she spreads her hands out, sending waves of pure Mars element through Ramesh's body.

The effect is immediate and impressive. The dark matter twitches and jerks before melting away like ice in a volcano, leaving Ramesh's life force clean and unblemished once more. A healthy glow returns to his complexion; the slash on his arm from Minayo's blade closes up with not even a scar to indicate it had been there at all.

Delirious, Meli flops back onto the grass, arms above her head and her legs sprawled out beneath her long skirt. She gazes up at the still-gray sky. Her body tingles with coiled energy ready to spring. She breathes in deeply...and exhales with a shaky, awkward laugh at her victory. The laugh unravels into a hysterical giggling fit that she can't control.

"What's so funny?" Ramesh mumbles sleepily as he pulls himself into a kneeling position.

Meli sighs, a strange smile on her face. "The Wise One told me to save the princess...but I've ended up saving her assassin instead."

"...what?"

She finally composes herself. "Never mind." She sits up and looks at Ramesh, brushing bits of grass and dirt from herself. "How are you feeling?"

Ramesh runs a hand over his face, through his hair. "Kind of...hot? But better than I was earlier, holy shit, I thought I was gonna die." He blinks at her. "Wh-what are you doing here, anyway? You mean you actually escaped Zagan?"

"The princess, Minayo, and Professor Reyes were keeping him entertained for a while. I was sent to find you."

"For what, to drag me to the chopping block?"

"No. We need you to unsummon Zagan."

Ramesh laughs and shakes his head. "No can do, lady. I didn't learn that."

Meli's good mood is shattered by this revelation. Her shoulders droop. "Then what _can_ we do to stop Zagan from reducing Neo Valeriam to ruins?"

"I told you, the guy won't be happy 'til he gets blood. That was the pact I made before I did the official summon, which was partly how I got the guy to show up in the first place." Ramesh gives a grim smirk. "If you don't want to let the princess die, I'm sure _I'll_ make a good enough piece of meat for Zagan, although I'm mostly skin and skeleton."

"_No._" The determination in Meli's voice surprises even herself. "No one is dying today."

Ramesh raises his eyebrow at something as he looks over Meli's shoulder. "Don't know about that one, sweetie."

Meli turns. She sees Minayo running towards them, looking pained as she carries Thea in her arms. "What's going on?" Meli yells, confused.

"Trying...to get...the guy...away from...the city!" Minayo yells back, panting. "Might as well...deal with him...when we're not going to...rip apart half of...Neo Valeriam...yeah?"

There's a loud crash as the gate to Neo Valeriam gets shattered by the force of something great barreling through it. Stomping out of the rubble, in limping pursuit, is none other than a half-charred, completely furious Zagan.

Meli stares at the gruesome sight. Even at her distance, she can see how the skin is peeling off Zagan's body in chunks, and how the blisters on his face swell with foul liquids. _How in Weyard did Zagan get so...?_ A thought strikes her. "Minayo, where's Professor Reyes?"

"The scholar? He's resting back in the city, said he'd catch up with us later." Minayo shakes her head as she puts down Thea and walks the rest of the way to Meli and Ramesh. "Should've _seen_ him, yeah, he was one crazy – " She's suddenly interrupted by an angry roar from Zagan, who's coming closer and closer. "Never mind, let's figure out how to deal with Mr. Axe-Happy, yeah?"

"Do you really have no way to return Zagan to Hades without a sacrifice?" Meli asks Ramesh.

Ramesh sucks on the inside of his cheek in thought. "I can't do an official summoning or whatnot," he says. "But Zagan is part earth elemental, which means that my powers should be able to damage him, especially considering that he looks like hell right now." He holds up his lion's head pendant. "And this amulet should help things out, as well."

"I am thankful for your help," Thea says, standing before Ramesh. "I shall plead leniency for you in court."

Ramesh scowls and brushes past her. "Save your pity. I just want to get this mess over and done with."

"Here he comes!" Minayo calls over the sound of the ground shaking.

Still running on the adrenaline of the _Mzaraph Legra,_ Meli casts Searing Beam, which shoves Zagan back to give enough room and time for Minayo to cast Rockjaw to trap him in his place. Thea actually manages to summon Ramses to disarm Zagan of his halberd. But it's Ramesh who puts on a truly spectacular show: a single Spark Plasma channeled through his pendant paralyzes Zagan and causes the blisters on his body to burst and spill over with the heat of the lightning. The spirit topples over with a bellow of agony that shakes the organs in everyone's bodies. Within moments, a red-and-black glyph forms beneath him on the ground. Tendrils of shadow lash out and claim him, dragging him back into the dark realm of Hades.

The four Adepts look wearily at each other. "Think he's gone for good, yeah?" Minayo asks.

Ramesh snorts. "The bastard's going to be back for my head soon, I bet, what with going back on our deal and all that." He sighs dramatically and waves at everyone. "Well, it was nice knowing y'all. Yeah, even her royal Highness and her slanty-eyed dog over there. See you both in Hades!"

Minayo snarls at him.

"Don't be so fatalistic," Meli says, touching Ramesh's arm. "Perhaps we can find a way to keep Zagan from getting to you. After all, if you were able to acquire the knowledge to call him without using Djinn..."

Ramesh only shakes his head. "The thought's appreciated and all, but I'm man enough to admit when I've screwed up – " His eyes suddenly widen, and he points over Meli's shoulder. "Wh-what the_crap_ is _that?_"

Meli, Minayo, and Thea turn around.

The Wise One, lithe and shimmering, towers over them in full physical existence. _You have done impressively well to cripple a Great Summon Spirit,_ he says.

"Holy Mother Gaia..." Minayo mutters, mouth dropping open.

Thea looks positively stricken. "Do not tell me...that this is the Wise One you spoke of to me on Sun's Eve?" she asks Meli.

Meli nods. "The Wise One changes form over Time, or so he has told me," she explains. "This is his most recent form after the one that the Catalysts saw prior to the Rise."

_Princess Edethea._ The Wise One tilts his head towards the princess, acknowledging her royalty. _It is good to see you alive. Your death would have ignited an explosion of tragedy in Neo Valeriam, with the flames spreading farther than anyone in the mortal realm could have predicted._

"Lady Melisande has told me as such," Thea says, her voice changing to a diplomatic tone, though her eyes still betray a healthy fear of the divine. "I...I deeply regret that I did not heed your warnings, passed through her. I humbly ask your forgiveness for my oversight."

_There is nothing to regret and nothing to forgive. You have survived this present ordeal, which means that Melisande has done what I have asked of her._ The Wise One straightens up. _Nevertheless, there are still larger threats on the horizon, which is why I speak to all four of you now. Let this meeting with me open your eyes to the danger all around you. Unfortunately, I cannot mention even the barest details right now. But you will feel the ripples long before most anyone else will notice the waves, and have faith that I will appear to you again._

"Er...you wouldn't happen to want us to do anything with wind boy over here, would you?" Minayo jabs a thumb in Ramesh's direction. "I mean, does he need to put up with divine wrath and all that?"

The Wise One thinks it over. _He shall have to undergo the justice of this realm. But I shall communicate something to Zagan to bargain for his soul._

"Y'mean I have one?" Ramesh mutters, half-sincere in his joke.

"Your Highness." Meli bows to Thea. "I will speak on Ramesh's behalf before the courts. I can testify that he was not in his right mind when he attempted his kill. We may be able to get a 'not guilty' verdict for reasons of insanity."

Thea nods. "I will arrange something, then."

_Do not speak of my appearance here or of anything we have discussed when you return to Neo Valeriam,_ the Wise One says. _They will get their signs soon enough. For now, I must speak to Melisande alone._

Ramesh raises an amused eyebrow at Meli. "Well, aren't you just a special little piece of dandelion fluff," he drawls, smirking.

Minayo thumps him on the back of his head. "Save your snapbacks, airhole," she says, unsheathing her sword again and placing it against his neck. "Now come with us like a good little boy and I won't have to slice your voice out to shut you up, yeah?"

"I don't need my voice to talk," he says, brandishing his middle finger at Minayo.

Thea turns to Meli as Minayo half-drags, half-escorts Ramesh back towards the city. "Once again, I am immensely thankful to you for saving my life," she says earnestly, taking Meli's hands in her own. "I will see that you are honored accordingly. You are also granted a boon from me, that you may ask what you like from me and I shall do what I can within my power to give it to you."

"None of that is necessary, your Highness," Meli insists. "But I will not spurn a royal gift."

"You will be informed of the details of Ramesh's hearing within the week. In the meantime, I shall see that he is treated humanely."

Meli nods. She watches Thea join Minayo and Ramesh off in the distance. It might unsettle another person to realize that only one person stands between Ramesh and the princess, but Minayo has proved herself a capable young woman, and Meli knows Ramesh's personality enonugh to be confident that he won't try anything else on the way back. She begins to feel the weight of her task slide off her shoulders like water, splashing with all the calm of a gentle brook. Meli's entire person relaxes and sighs gently. Once the trio disappears inside the walls of the city, she turns to the Wise One and kneels before him. "What is it you wished to speak to me about?" she asks.

_Do you remember, when I last spoke to you, that I said that you had an important role in this?_

Meli nods again.

_You have fulfilled your role well. _An uncomfortable pause. _A little too well, it seems._

"...wh-what do you mean?"

_It is true that I had a vested interest in making sure that Princess Edethea was not killed. But had that been my only objective, I would have gone straight to her._

Meli has suspected as such. "I was being tested for something, then."

_Yes. I was trying to confirm the type of connection you have with the power of the Purifying Fire. You have demonstrated your potential for controlling that power quite brilliantly. _The Wise One looks away. _But the knowledge of the Purifying Fire was not meant to be used by mortal hands – or perhaps any hands at all._

"I don't understand," Meli says slowly. "The Purifying Fire is a healing art, is it not?"

_It is a healing art so powerful that can swing over to pure destruction. It is a healing art that can kill as well as – or even better than – it heals._

This revelation completely floors Meli. "But...but I've never read anything like that! That doesn't make sense at all...!"

_You put too much faith in the goodness of the fires. You will recall that, in our previous encounter, I mentioned that there were those in Weyard who have re-discovered some of the most dangerous alchemical art, and would use them without full knowledge of the cost. That applied not only to Ramesh...but to you as well._

Meli's breath hitches in her throat. She had committed such a heinous sin and hadn't even been aware of it? "Then please, won't you tell me what I am doing wrong, so that I may correct myself? You must know that I don't intend to ever do harm!"

_It is too late. Your resonance with the Purifying Fire proves that you are the Hellbringer. _The Wise One coils himself around Meli, surrounding her completely. _You cannot be allowed to live, Melisande de l'Umbrano._

Dread possesses Meli, paralyzing her. _Hellbringer? What is he talking about? _The tears pool in her eyes. "Wise One, please! I don't understand..."

_I am sorry. I am grateful for your work in saving Princess Edethea...but I must kill you here._

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The Wise One glances over to his side. _You!_

Meli's head pops up at the sound of Florian's voice cutting into the conversation, his person appearing as though from thin air. She's more than glad to see him...but there's something different about him now as he approaches her and the Wise One. For one thing, Florian's completely healed from when Meli last saw him, though the bloodstains still mar his clothes. The second, stranger thing she can specifically pick out is the fact that the bottom half of both of his robe sleeves have been seared completely off, revealing...well, Meli can't tell what they are, exactly. She doesn't know if this design, circling his forearms like the marks of large shackles, is burned into his skin or if they're cracks _in_ his skin. They glow like molten lava on the verge of cooling. Meli's never seen them before...but then she realizes that she's never seen Florian in anything with short sleeves.

_You have broken part of your seals, I see,_ the Wise One says accusingly. _I do not know how you did it, but the Justices will not be happy about that._

Florian only laughs. "It was for a good cause, you know. I've long since known a way to undo the first layer of the sealing spell. But the Justices would be great fools indeed to not weigh the consequences of my inaction versus my action. I helped to save Meli's life, and consequently the lives of those around her – including Princess Thea. Weyard has been saved. Isn't that what you wanted?"

_It was not merely that. The issue of the Purifying Fire being used again was far more pressing. This woman will be the next Hellbringer. She cannot be allowed to live!_

"That woman is my Scion," Florian responds, glaring. "And you will not touch her. You know the laws."

The Wise One actually growls, but he quickly retreats from Meli. _You have claimed her as a Scion?__Such a thing has not been done in centuries! What are you planning, Mars?_

_M-Mars?_Meli stares shamelessly at Florian. "Professor, what's going on?" she asks, hating how pitiful her voice sounds.

"It's nothing for you to be worried about," Florian says, and Meli can't tell if he's talking to her or to the Wise One.

_It is everything for me to worry about. You were bound to the mortal realm for a reason._

"I don't consider it a very good one." Florian shrugs carelessly. "Really, those on high have become quite jumpy, with the littlest spark setting them off. You make it sound as though I have committed some sort of holy treason, but in truth I am down here because someone overreacted to me, that's all. Not that I'm complaining too much, mind you – I'm finding the company of this realm to be quite fascinating." He gives Meli an indecipherable glance.

_Leave Melisande to me. You know the story of the Hellbringer – you brought him down yourself! You saw the devastation he caused! Will you allow that to happen to Weyard again?_

"No, and that is precisely why Meli will remain under my watch, among other reasons." Florian steps forward; the Wise One slithers back. "Let us be quite clear. I don't trust you at all. Your deceptive ways from your mortal life have followed you like the stench of death, and the fact that you incarnated into a serpent in the divine realm only seems to prove that point. It really was quite underhanded of you, to say the _very_ least, to send dear Meli here on a heroic mission to save Weyard only to express your thanks by attempting to kill her, without having given her proper forewarning of what she was up again. It is true enough that you cannot tell a lie...but lies of omission can be quite grievous, and you of all beings should know that."

_You are not in your element, Mars. You should not be meddling here._

"I am not the one 'meddling'." Florian smiles. "I saw Meli first, after all."

_That is not the issue and you know it._

The Wise One's expression hasn't changed since the beginning of the conversation, but waves of anger radiate from his serpentine body, and it scares Meli to every last drop of her body. She doesn't exactly know what is going on or what is being discussed, but she doesn't dare speak out for clarification. She has become afraid of the Wise One...and of Florian.

"You really have quite poor faith in those around you," Florian says. "Don't you believe that Meli can learn to control the _Mzaraph Legra_ in a constructive manner?" A sly look. "Or are you merely jealous that you yourself cannot wield such a power?"

_You have fallen lower than Hades if you are making attacks on my being._

"I never attack without a good reason."

_Is that so? Then I will expect to see an explanation from you once Melisande flexes the Fire over a flaming wasteland._

The look on Florian's face is absolutely murderous. His scarlet eyes spark with fury. "You believe I would groom Melisande into the Hellbringer? You believe that I would be capable of even _thinking_ of deliberately destroying Weyard, this world I have created with my Elemental siblings?" The air around him wavers with the heat of his anger. "What ludicrous ideas you have conceived in that warped mind of yours. You have overstepped your bounds, Wise One. You forget that you are talking to a god."

_I would be, were it not for those seals on your arms._

Florian holds up his arms, where the markings flare brightly. "These? Minor detail. I have merely been bound to the mortal realm; I have not been turned into a mortal. Thus, I still have the rights and power of a god." He practically snarls his next words. "And with all of my rights and power, I order you to get out of my sight, and to not show yourself before me unless you can demonstrate you are worthy to be called what you are!"

The Wise One disappears in a swirl of power.

Meli stands alone now with Florian under a late afternoon sky of fiery gray. She's shivering in the aftermath of the argument between Weyard's wisdom and one of Weyard's own elementals. Not just from the sheer power that had gathered in a single place, but from the revelations upon revelations that had unfurled themselves from the resulting conversation.

_Professor Reyes is Mars._

The man she loves...and the god she worships...are one and the same.

Meli doesn't know what to think or feel. The thoughts and emotions come to her all at once in a maelstrom that grows and grows, until finally she stands alone and still in the eye of the storm. Even the thought of being this evil-sounding thing called the Hellbringer doesn't faze her now. She is left only with the numbness of fear and uncertainty.

Florian is gazing at her with a sad expression, all traces of cold anger gone from his face. "Please don't look at me like that," he says. "You needn't be afraid of me. Not you of all people."

But Meli _is_ afraid. She's afraid of the rage she had seen blazing behind Florian's eyes, of the primal force just barely contained within his form but ready to erupt at the next provocation. She can't believe that such a powerful being could have been disguised for the past few years as mild-mannered Florian Reyes. All those times when he had worked patiently with her on understanding what she needed to understand for her work; when he had sat with her far too many times for far longer than expected simply because she had needed someone to talk to; when he had simply been quietly charming and intelligent – she hadn't suspected a single thing about his true identity. She supposes it explains his extensive knowledge of the myths of Weyard, though. After all...he's one of them.

In reverence, Meli drops to her knees to prostrate herself on the ground before him.

"No," Florian says, and Meli flinches even though the word is spoken gently. "There is no need for such trivial things between us. Stand up, Melisande."

Far be it from her to disobey a god. Meli rises to her feet, but she can't bring herself to look at Florian. She can feel him when he approaches her, though: he still radiates divine strength, most likely the result of breaking his seals, whatever they happened to be. The resulting aura is inviting and fearsome at the same time.

"Are you angry with me?" Florian asks.

"I think I should be asking that question of you." Meli shakes her head, feeling as though she's failed in something. "I didn't know," she says shamefully. "I'm so sorry...I didn't figure it out at all..."

"You weren't supposed to," Florian says kindly. "This wasn't one of those tests in which you had to recognize my divinity or else face offense from above. I was – am – only a god living under a mortal identity with mortal restraints, for a time.

_"Only" a god?_ Meli thinks in disbelief. "You were the one who helped me with Ramesh," she says, suddenly recognizing who had literally answered her prayer.

"How could I not? You asked, after all. It was fortunate that you caught me when I had unsealed some of my power so that I could actually hear you. It would have been quite a sin not to answer – especially since you've been so devoted to me."

At this Meli turns bright red with embarrassment. She suddenly remembers an earlier conversation with Florian, not long after she had met him, in which she'd revealed the extent of her admiration for Mars and her various reflections upon his persona. She had talked quite at length on that subject. Oh, if she had only known who'd been listening to her, she wouldn't have acted like such a starry-eyed country girl! What a silly child she must have looked to him. "Professor..." she starts. "M-Mars, I mean..."

"You may call me by my mortal name if you wish, you know," says Florian, smiling. "Like you did back when we were still dealing with Zagan."

As if she needs to be even more embarrassed than she already is. "That was...that was just...I thought you were...!" Meli takes a deep breath. "I forgot proper conduct in the chaos of the fight, that's all!"

Florian shrugs. "Ah, well. If bleeding to death is what it'll take to get you to call me 'Florian', I suppose I'll track down Miss Minayo and ask for her sword in order to open a vein or three."

Meli gapes at him in utter shock. "_What?"_

Florian chuckles. "You take things entirely too seriously, you know." He suddenly takes her into his arms, holding her close. "Then again, you _have_ had a harrowing past few days, so a lack of humor can certainly be forgiven. And no doubt hearing that exchange between myself and the Wise One has only stressed you more. You are, doubtless, confused and exhausted at the moment." He strokes her back gently. "We can stop by my house for a while, if you'd like. You can rest there, and then ask any question of me that you wish so that we can clear things up a little, as well."

Meli's finding herself intoxicated by the proximity of Florian's body to hers, for more reasons than one. Her hands flail a little as she tries to figure out whether she should return the embrace or not. "Th-this...really is considered rather improper..." she manages.

"Only by minds that are caged within walls like your city," Florian whispers into her ear, and the richness of his voice sends a pleasant shiver down her spine. "I find nothing wrong with embracing my Scion and comforting her. Now whom shall you believe: the earthly authority trapped over there...or the god in front of you?"

Without another moment of hesitation, Meli throws her arms around him, and she cries silently in happiness and relief. She still can't think straight at the moment, but that doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters now, except her and Florian...her and Mars.

_Do not let his mien and face fool you._ The Wise One's voice resounds in her head like a crashing wave. _Mars is the flame of life that is crimson with the blood of his enemies. If you shall be his Scion and remain under his wing, it would do you well to be mindful of yourself and of him, for the flames destroy when they heal. One aspect does not exist without the other. If you cannot learn to balance the two, you __**will**__ die for the sake of preserving Weyard, Hellbringer._

Meli frowns. The Wise One's words call up all the countless stories of mortals becoming involved with spirits or deities that she knows, stories in which the aforementioned mortals tended to die early, painful, or overal strange deaths. The abundance of such tales in mythologies across Weyard has led to a single ironic and cynical observation frequently quoted by those studying ancient lore:

_To be chosen by the gods is to be chosen by death._

"Are you feeling better now?" Florian asks. "Can you walk?"

"I am fine," she says, meaning it. She glances up at him, and sees him smiling down on her with fondness...or is that mischief she's seeing? "Though...I can't walk if you won't let me stand on my own."

"Ah, that would be a problem, wouldn't it? But I don't seem to want to let you go. Now how shall we remedy this?"

Meli looks at him strangely. "Really, Professor, is this the – "

"I thought I told you to call me 'Florian'," he says, kissing her on the forehead before picking her up in his arms.

She squeaks. "Pro – Florian! I'm perfectly fine! I don't need to be carried like an invalid!" _But if this is the way that leads to death,_ she thinks, leaning against Florian with a sigh as he walks back towards Neo Valeriam, _then I will gladly follow it._

O-O-O

**Owari da yo! Hontou!**

**...lolz fangirl Japanese.**

**Review if you will, flame if you must.**

**-Sora G. Silverwind**  
_**I love this city enough that I'll set it ablaze**_


End file.
